923 


WILLEM  JANSZOON  BLAEU 

1571-1638 


BY 

EDWARD  LUTHER  STEVENSON,  PH.D. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF 
THE  HISPANIC  SOCIETY  OF  AMERICA 

No.  85 


Willem  Janszoon  Blaeu.     1571-1638 


V      J 


WILLEM  JANSZOON  BLAEU 

1571-1638 


A  SKETCH  OF  HIS  LIFE  AND  WORK 

WITH  AN  ESPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  HIS 

LARGE  WORLD  MAP  OF  1605 

FACSIMILE 
OF  THE  UNIQUE  COPY  BELONGING  TO 

THE  HISPANIC  SOCIETY  OF  AMERICA 

EIGHTEEN  SHEETS  WITH  KEY  PLATE 


BY 

EDWARD  LUTHER  STEVENSON,  PH.D. 


NEW  YORK 
1914 


4 


Copyright,  1914,  by 

THE  HISPANIC  SOCIETY- 

OF  AMERICA 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

WILLEM  JANSZOON  BLAEU 11 

WORLD  MAP  OF  1605 51 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 61 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  BLAEU'S  PRINCIPAL  GEOGRAPHICAL 

PUBLICATIONS  .                                                                                           .  65 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Willem  Janszoon  Blaeu.     1571-1638  (J.  Falck,  sculp.)   .   Frontispiece 

Pacing  Page 
Island  of  Hveen,  showing  the  location  of  Uranienburg.     From  Le 

Grand  Atlas ,12 

Press  invented  by  Blaeu.    From  Johnson,  J.    Typographia  ...     16 

Interior  of  Tycho  Brahe's  Observatory  at  Uranienburg.      From 
Le  Grand  Atlas 30 

Terrestrial  globe  and  celestial  globe,  1616.    Willem  Janszoon  Blaeu    44 

World  Map  from  Toonneel  des  Aerdrycx,  by  Willem  Janszoon 
Blaeu 52 

Printer's  mark  of  the  Blaeu  Press  [tail-piece,  page  59]. 


WILLEM  JANSZOON  BLAEU 

1571-1638 


WILLEM  JANSZOON  BLAEU 

AND  HIS 

WORLD  MAP  OF  1605 


WILLEM    JANSZOON    BLAEU,    one    of 
Holland's  most  distinguished  map  and  globe 
makers  of  the  early  seventeenth  century,  was 
born  at  the  village  of  Alkinaar  in  the  year  1571;  such  is 
the  record  which  finds  general  acceptance.1 

Of  his  childhood  nothing  is  known.  It  was  some  time  in 
his  early  boyhood  days  that  he  went  to  Amsterdam,  where 
he  found  employment,  it  appears  at  first,  in  the  house  of  a 
Holland  merchant,  and  later  as  a  joiner's  apprentice.  We 
can  be  certain  neither  of  the  time  when  he  decided  to  leave 
Amsterdam,  nor  of  the  circumstances  which  induced  him  to 
visit  the  island  of  Hveen,  then  belonging  to  Denmark,2  an 
event  of  much  significance  in  his  life.  We,  however,  can- 
not be  far  wrong  in  asserting  the  promptings  for  this  visit 
to  have  been  his  early  liking  for  mathematical,  geograph- 
ical and  astronomical  studies.  On  this  island  he  was 

iAn  exhaustive  study  of  the  life  debtedness  to  Baudet's  work  for  in- 

and  work  of  Willem  Janszoon  Blaeu  valuable  aid  in  the  preparation  of  this 

does  not  exist.  One  of  great  value  and  brief  biography. 

interest  is  that  by  Baudet,  P.  J.  H.          2  See  illustration,   p.   12.     This,   it 

Leven  en  werken  van  Willem  Jansz.  will  be  noted,  is  a  map  signed  "Insula 

Blaeu,  uitgegeven  door  het  Provincial  Hvaena    sive    Venusia    a    Gviljelmo 

Utrechtsch  genootschap  van   kunsten  Blaev  cum  sum  Tychone  Astronomiae 

en  wetenschappen.     Utrecht,  1871.  operam  daret  delineata." 

The  author  acknowledges  here  his  in- 

11 


brought  into  intimate  relations  with  Tycho  Brahe,  the 
famous  Danish  astronomer,  who,  in  1576,  established  here 
his  observatory  at  the  Castle  of  Uranienburg.3  For  near  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  this  was  one  of  the  most  famous  cen- 
ters in  all  Europe  for  the  study  of  astronomical  science  and 
of  its  practical  applications.  Blaeu,  let  it  be  noted,  was 
not  the  first  of  the  young  Netherlanders  who  found  his  way 
to  Uranienburg  that  he  might  receive  astronomical  in- 
structions from  the  great  master.  As  early  as  1591,  Jacob 
Florent  van  Langren  of  Amsterdam  sent  his  son  Arnold 
to  the  Danish  astronomer  with  a  request  that  he  might  be 
allowed  to  copy  the  catalogue  of  the  stars  which  had  been 
located  at  his  observatory,  wishing  to  make  use  of  the  same 
in  the  new  celestial  globes  which  he  proposed  to  construct. 
This  special  request,  we  are  informed,  was  not  granted, 
for  Brahe's  records  were  not  yet  complete,  but  young  van 
Langren  was  given  permission  to  see  the  large  celestial 
globe  which  was  in  the  observatory,  and  on  which  at  the 
time  of  the  visit  800  stars  had  been  represented.4  It  is 

3  See  illustration,  p.  30.  taken  from  Brahe:  Astronomiae  in- 
August  8,  1576,  the  corner-stone  of  stauratae  mechanica.  1598. 
the  Castle  of  Uranienburg  was  laid  4  This  great  copper  globe,  which 
with  much  ceremony,  and  the  comple-  Picard  describes  as  having  a  diameter 
tion  of  the  building  was  made  possible  of  4  feet  7  inches  and  1  line,  con- 
through  the  generous  contributions  structed  in  Augsburg  under  the  direc- 
and  patronage  of  Frederick  II  of  tion  of  Paul  Hainzel,  appears  to  have 
Denmark.  See,  for  a  brief  description,  been  sent  to  Uranienburg  about  1584. 
Wolf:  Geschichte  der  Astronomie,  In  the  course  of  succeeding  years 
Munchen,  1877,  p.  277;  Picard,  J.  more  than  one  thousand  stars  were 
Voyage  d'Uranibourg,  ou  observations  represented  on  its  surface  according 
astronomiques  faites  en  Dannemarck.  to  the  observations  of  Tycho  Brahe. 
(Mem.  de  I'Acad.  royale  des  sci-  In  1597  the  great  astronomer  left  Den- 
ences  depuis  1666  jusque  a  1699,  torn.  mark  to  find  a  home  in  Prague,  taking 
VII,  p.  j?£7);  Blaeu:  Atlas  Major,  with  him  his  astronomical  instruments, 
vol.  I,  pp.  61-101.  Twelve  illustra-  including  his  celestial  globe.  After 
tions  of  the  Island  of  Hveen,  and  of  Brahe's  death  in  1601,  these  instru- 
the  observatory  of  Uranienburg,  with  ments  were  purchased  by  Rudolph  II, 
brief  description,  may  here  be  found.  but  on  the  capture  of  the  City  of 
These  illustrations,  it  appears,  were  Prague  in  1623  by  the  Danish  Prince 

12 


stated  that  Tycho  often  had  as  many  as  ten  or  twelve  boys 
at  his  observatory  as  his  assistants. 

We  have  but  little  direct  information  concerning  Blaeu's 
sojourn  at  Uranienburg.  It  appears  certain  that  he  passed 
at  least  two  years  with  Brahe,  engaged  the  while  in  study 
and  in  the  construction  of  mathematical  and  astronomical 
instruments.  May  21, 1596,  the  day  of  the  young  Holland- 
er's departure  for  his  native  land,  Brahe  made  the  follow- 
ing entry  in  his  day-book,  which  book  may  be  found  in  the 
Imperial  Library  of  Vienna,  "Abiit  domum  in  JEollan- 
diam,  Vilhelmus  Batavius  cum  per  integram  hyemen  his 
fuisset,"  and  by  Gassendi  we  are  told  that  Guilielmus 
Janssonius  had  been  with  Tycho  for  two  years,  although 
he  does  not  make  it  certain  that  it  was  for  two  consecutive 
years.  That  the  relations  between  the  two  distinguished 
scientists  continued  to  be  of  the  most  friendly  character 
long  after  the  date  given  above  is  very  certain,  as  not  a  few 
of  those  who  in  later  years  in  praising  Blaeu's  scientific 
attainments  refer  to  him  as  "the  pupil  and  longtime  friend 
of  Brahe,"  yet  neither  of  them  appears  in  his  writings  to 
have  made  more  than  a  passing  allusion  to  their  relations.5 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  Blaeu  owed  to  his  abode  on 
the  island  of  Hveen  the  real  foundation  of  his  scientific 
knowledge,  both  in  the  field  of  geography  and  of  astron- 
omy, as  well  as  his  knowledge  of  the  construction  and  the 
skilful  use  of  mathematical  instruments.  We  have  reason 
for  believing  that  a  number  of  the  instruments  which 
served  the  great  astronomer  in  his  investigations,  were  the 

Ulrich  the  globe  with  other  objects  of  5  John  Blaeu,  son  of  Willem,  tells 

interest    was    taken    to    Copenhagen.  us  that  in  1591  his  father  was  amanu- 

Here  it  remained  until  1728,  when  it  ensis  of  Tycho  Brahe.    See  Blaeu:  At- 

was  destroyed  by  fire  together  with  las  Major,  1662,  vol.  I,  p.  63. 
the  castle  in  which  it  had  so  long  been 
kept. 

13 


work  of  Blaeu,  and  it  is  an  interesting  fact,  as  we  1 
that  Brahe's  observations,  here  made,  formed  the  has 
Kepler's  calculations,  leading  him  to  the  discovery  ( 
laws  which  immortalized  his  name. 

It  was  perhaps  late  in  the  year  1596,  or  early  in 
that  Blaeu  returned  to  Amsterdam  where  he  soon  < 
lished  himself  as  a  maker  of  mathematical  instrumen 
maps  and  of  globes,  and  as  an  engraver  and  printer. 

Before  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  N( 
lands  had  moved  into  the  first  rank  of  European  sta 
which  the  art  of  engraving  and  of  printing  flour 
Nothing  perhaps  contributed  more  to  this  end,  espe 
in  the  north,  than  the  freedom  which  there  prevails 
trammeled  by  the  restraints  of  the  Index. 

As  for  the  particular  art  of  map  engraving  and 
printing,  the  work  of  Mercator,  of  Ortelius,  of  W 
naer,  had  centered  the  attention  of  those  interested  ii 
field  upon  the  Low  Countries.  As  early  as  1541,  r 
mention  his  work  of  the  preceding  decade,  Mercator  i 
his  terrestrial  globe  gores,  which  mark  a  decided  ad 
in  the  art  of  map  engraving,  and  this  was  followed  1 
large  map  of  England,  of  Europe,  and  of  the  Worl< 
latter  setting  forth  the  new  method  of  projection 
known  as  Mercator's  projection.  Ortelius's  great  we 
1570,  with  its  numerous  succeeding  issues,  Waghei 
Mirror  of  Navigation  of  1585,  and  Mercator's  bo< 
maps  of  1585,  for  which  collection  as  a  title  the  name  . 
was  first  used,  were  superior  productions,  models  for 
who  followed  closely  within  the  same  field. 

Blaeu  acknowledged  these  men  to  be  his  masters,  th< 
as  was  also  frequently  the  case  with  other  map  maker 
map  engravers  of  his  day,  he  occasionally  forgot  to  a 

14 


proper  credit  to  those  from  whom  he  borrowed  in  the  car- 
tographical work  that  issued  from  his  press. 

We  are  told  that  Tycho  had  given  to  Blaeu  a  copy  of 
his  astronomical  observations  before  their  publication, 
that  this  copy  was  carried  to  Amsterdam,  and  that  on  the 
record  contained  therein  the  latter  began  the  practice  of 
globe  making.  The  implication  contained  in  this  refer- 
ence is  that  his  first  work  as  a  globe  maker  was  the  prepara- 
tion of  material  for  a  celestial  globe,  but  no  such  globe  of 
his  is  known  bearing  date  earlier  than  1602.  His  first 
dated  work  appears  to  have  been  a  terrestrial  globe  of  the 
year  1599.  It  was  as  a  maker  and  vender  of  mathematical 
instruments,  as  a  collector  and  close  student  of  maps  geo- 
graphical and  astronomical,  he  probably  found  his  chief 
employment  during  the  first  years  after  his  return  to  the 
Netherlands.  There  is  good  reason  for  thinking  that  from 
the  first  he  prospered  in  his  undertakings,  and  that  he  was 
soon  in  a  position  to  establish  an  independent  business.  It 
may  be  inferred  from  incidental  references  that  it  was  not 
long  after  1600  he  was  in  his  own  fully  equipped  house 
engaged  in  the  business  of  engraving  and  printing. 

Blaeu  seems  not  to  have  become  a  member  of  any  of  the 
guilds  in  his  adopted  city,  and  we,  therefore,  cannot  turn 
to  their  records  for  any  information  concerning  his  activi- 
ties. His  name  first  publicly  appears  in  the  records  of  the 
States  General  for  the  year  1605,  in  a  resolution  proposing 
that  a  sum  of  money  should  be  granted  to  him  for  printing 
and  publishing  a  NIEUW  GRAETBOUCK,  a  name  given  at 
that  time  in  the  Netherlands  to  a  book  containing  declina- 
tion tables.  This  resolution  reads  as  follows:  "19  Maart 
1605.  Is  Willem  Jansz  Blaeu  tot  Amsterdam  geaccor- 
deert  octroy,  omme  voor  den  tyt  van  6  jaren  naestcomende 

15 


alleene  in  de  vereenichde  provincien  in  druck  vuyt  to  geven 
een  bouxken,  geintituleert:  Nieuw  graetbouck,  nae  den 
ouden  styl  vuyt  de  aldercorrecste  observatien  van  den  ver- 
maerden  astronomo  Tycho  Brahe,  gecalculeert  ende  ge- 
stelt  op  ten  meridiaen  deser  Nederlanden,  enz."(  A  copy 
of  this  work  does  not  appear  to  be  extant,  but  we  may  be 
able,  as  Baudet  suggests,  to  obtain  something  of  an  idea 
of  its  character  from  later  publications  of  Blaeu,  as  for 
instance  from  his  "Licht  der  Zeevaert." 

On  his  "Paescarte,"  one  of  his  early  publications,  and 
usually  referred  to  the  year  1606,  we  read  that  it  was  "Ghe- 
druckt  t5  Amsterdam  bij  Willem  Janssoon  op't  Waeter 
inde  Sonnewijser,"  a  location  often  referred  to  in  certain 
later  publications  as  "op'  t  water  In  de  vergulde  Sonne- 
wyser,"  reference  being  to  the  gilded  sun-dial  which  as  a 
business  sign  adorned  the  gable  of  his  establishment.7  It 
appears  that  in  this  originally  selected  locality  his  work 
was  carried  on  until  the  year  1637,  when  his  entire  plant 
was  moved  into  more  commodious  quarters  in  the  Blumen- 
gracht,  one  year  only  before  his  death.  On  the  death  of 
Willem  Blaeu,  in  1638,  the  business  passed  into  the  hands 
of  his  sons  John  and  Cornelius  Blaeu.  In  1672  practically 
the  entire  establishment  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

For  his  ability  and  attainments  as  a  practical  printer 
Willem  Blaeu  is  especially  entitled  to  great  honor.  He 

6  Given  by  Baudet,  p.  154-  resented  as  the  heavier  and  having  the 

7  On  the  title-page  of  many  of  the  word  "Praestat"  printed  below  it.    In 
books  published  by  Blaeu,  as  on  many  certain   later   publications   this   mark 
of  the  maps  which  he  issued,  appears  was  replaced  by  an  armillary  sphere, 
the  expression  "Sub  signo  solarii  deau-  at  the  left  of  which  is  an  allegorical 
rati."    Most  of  the  works  printed  by  figure  representing  Time  and  on  the 
Blaeu  before  1619  have  as  his  print-  right  a  figure  representing  Hercules 
er's  device  a  balance  with  a  terrestrial  with      the      inscription      "Indefessus 
globe  in  the  right  scale  and  a  celestial  agendo."    See  p.  59. 

globe  in  the  left,  the  latter  being  rep- 

16 


PUEH8   INVENTED   BY   BLAEW. 


From  Johnson,  J.  Typographia 


labored  on  for  many  years  in  Amsterdam,  making  use  of 
such  presses  as  were  commonly  to  be  found  in  the  printing 
houses  of  his  own  and  of  other  lands.  Finding,  however, 
numerous  inconveniences  attending  the  structure  of  these 
oldtime  presses,  he  was  induced,  about  1620,  to  contrive 
remedies.8  In  this,  we  are  told,  he  succeeded  beyond  his 
expectations,  so  much  indeed  that  he  had  nine  of  the  new 
presses  constructed,  each  of  which  he  called  by  the  name 
of  one  of  the  Muses.  The  excellence  of  Blaeu's  improve- 
ments soon  becoming  known  to  other  printing  houses,  their 
proprietors  were  induced  to  follow  his  example,  and  presses 
of  his  design  became,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  almost 
general  throughout  the  Low  Countries,  and  were  intro- 
duced into  England,  though  at  first  there  was  here  much 
opposition  to  his  new  ideas.  While  the  description  below 
is  that  of  the  Blaeu  establishment  as  it  was  under  the  man- 
agement of  the  son  John,  yet  as  it  presents  to  us  the  print- 
ing house  founded  by  the  father,  Willem  Blaeu,  and 
describes  a  printing  house  of  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  it  is  here  cited  in  free  translation. 

"On  the  Blumengracht,"  says  Filips  von  Zesen,  in  his 
description  of  the  city  of  Amsterdam,9  "near  the  third 
bridge,  and  the  third  alley,  may  be  found  the  greatly  re- 
nowned printing  house  of  John  Blaeu,  Counsellor  and 
Magistrate,  of  this  city.  It  is  furnished  with  nine  type 
presses,  named  after  the  nine  Muses,  six  presses  for  copper- 
plate printing,  and  a  type  foundry.  The  entire  establish- 

s  See,     for    brief     descriptions     of  graphia,  or  the  Printer's  Instructor. 

Blaeu's   press,    Stower,    C.     Printer's  London,  1824,  vol.  II,  pp.  500-551.     It 

Grammar.  London,  1808,  pp.  303-304;  is  from  this  last  named  work  that  il- 

Hansard,    Typography:   an   historical  lustration  p.  16  is  taken. 
sketch  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  » Filips    von    Zesen:    Beschreibung 

the  art  of  printing.    London,  1825,  p.  der  Stadt  Amsterdam,  1664,  PP- 

550;  and  especially  Johnson,  J.,  Typo-  216. 

17 


ment  on  the  canal,  with  the  adjoining  house,  in  which  the 
proprietor  lives,  is  75  feet  in  breadth,  and  stretches  along 
the  east  side  of  a  cross  street  135  feet,  or  with  the  attached 
house  150  feet.  Fronting  on  the  canal  is  a  room  with  cases 
in  which  the  copper  plates  are  kept,  from  which  the  Atlases, 
the  Book  of  the  Cities  of  the  Netherlands  and  of  foreign 
countries,  also  the  Mariners'  Atlases  and  other  choice  books 
are  printed,  and  which  must  have  cost  a  ton  of  gold.  Next 
to  this  first  room  is  a  press  room  used  for  plate  printing, 
and  opening  upon  the  cross  street  referred  to  above  is  a 
place  where  the  type,  from  which  impressions  have  been 
made,  are  washed ;  then  follows  in  order  the  room  for  book 
printing,  which  resembles  a  long  hall  with  numerous  win- 
dows on  either  side.  In  the  extreme  rear  is  a  room  in 
which  the  type  and  certain  other  materials  used  in  printing 
are  stored.  Opposite  this  store  room  is  a  stairway  leading 
to  a  small  room  above  which  is  set  apart  for  the  use  of  the 
proof-readers,  where  first  and  second  impressions  are  care- 
fully looked  over,  and  the  errors  corrected  which  have  been 
made  by  the  typesetters.  In  front  of  this  last  designated 
room  is  a  long  table  or  bench  on  which  the  final  prints  are 
placed  as  soon  as  they  are  brought  from  the  press,  and 
where  they  are  left  for  a  considerable  time.  In  the  story 
above  is  a  table  for  the  same  purpose  just  indicated,  at  the 
extreme  end  of  which,  and  over  the  room  occupied  by  the 
proof-readers,  is  the  type  foundry  wherein  the  letters  used 
in  the  printing  of  the  various  languages  are  moulded. 

The  foundation  of  this  splendid  building  was  laid  in  the 
year  1636,  by  John  Blaeu's  oldest  son  Willem  Blaeu,10 
and  on  the  13th  of  the  fall  month  of  the  following  year  the 

10  John   Blaeu's  oldest  son  Willem       it  perhaps  points  us  to  an  interesting 
was  at  this  time  about  one  year  old.       exhibition  of  parental  pride. 
If  the  statement  by  Zesen  is  correct, 

18 


printing  establishment  was  here  set  in  order.  The  original 
founder  of  the  printing  house,  who  died  in  the  following 
year,  was  John  Blaeu's  art  loving  father  Willem,  who,  for 
a  considerable  time,  had  been  a  pupil  of  the  great  astron- 
omer Tycho  Brahe,  whom  he  zealously  followed,  construct- 
ing many  instruments  for  the  advancement  of  astronomical 
studies,  for  the  promotion  of  the  art  of  navigation,  and  of 
other  sciences  of  like  character,  an  interest  in  all  of  which 
he  revived  and  furthered  while  at  the  same  time  he  made 
new  discoveries,  as  has  become  widely  known  from  the 
publications  which  have  issued  from  this  printing  house. 

But  why  should  we  here  give  to  them  such  unbounded 
praise?  Since  father  and  son  without  eulogy  from  us  are  so 
well  known  to  the  entire  learned  world,  to  which  they  have 
presented  such  treasures  of  inestimable  value  through  their 
incomparable  pains  and  at  great  cost,  and  are  so  far  ad- 
vanced on  the  road  to  immortality,  it  is  more  becoming  in 
us  to  remain  silent  than  to  speak  further  concerning  them." 

Before  turning  for  a  reference  more  in  detail  to  the  pub- 
lications which  were  issued  by  the  Blaeu  press,  to  a  con- 
sideration of  Willem  Blaeu's  most  important  work  as 
engraver,  as  globe  maker,  as  printer  and  publisher  of  maps 
and  navigators'  charts,  a  further  brief  word  may  be  said 
touching  certain  general  interests  and  activities  of  his, 
touching  certain  personal  relations  and  individual  charac- 
teristics, which  support  the  conclusion  that  he  was  a  man 
justly  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  men  of  science  of  his 
day,  and  that  he  was  interested  in  whatever  pertained  to 
his  great  field  of  study. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  Blaeu's  ability  as  a  maker 
of  mathematical  and  astronomical  instruments,  which  work 
claimed  more  or  less  of  his  attention  to  the  end  of  his  days. 

19 


The  fact,  however,  is  a  very  remarkable  one  that  from  the 
many  years  of  activity  as  an  instrument  maker  with  Tycho 
Brahe,  and  independently  at  Amsterdam,  but  one  example 
of  his  should  have  come  down  to  us.  Vossius  says  that  "no 
other  scholar  ever  deserved  so  much  praise  as  Blaeu  on  ac- 
count of  an  extraordinary  and  beautiful  quadrant,  which 
can  be  seen  at  Leyden  in  the  tower,  where  astronomical 
observations  are  being  made."  n  His  reference  is  to  a  quad- 
rant now  kept  in  the  Leyden  Observatory.  It  is  described 
by  Kayser  in  his  Annals  of  the  Observatory  as  a  wooden 
quadrant,  with  a  brass  rim,  having  a  radius  of  seven  feet.12 
In  the  year  1632  it  was  purchased  from  the  estate  of  Wille- 
brod  Snellius,  and  may  be  said  to  have  induced  the  found- 
ing of  this  observatory  in  the  year  1633. 

With  the  conscientious  map  makers  the  problem  was 
ever  present,  how  shall  accuracy  in  space  relations,  accu- 
racy in  location  of  places  on  the  map  be  attained.  Ptolemy 
had  been  a  guide  in  the  earlier  years  of  great  geographical 
discoveries  and  explorations,  but  geographical  knowledge 
soon  extended  to  regions  beyond  those  known  to  Ptolemy, 
and  the  inaccuracies  of  his  records,  even  for  those  regions 
more  or  less  familiar  to  the  ancients,  became  very  apparent. 
In  the  maps  of  the  seventeenth  century  we  have  interest- 
ingly exhibited  the  tortuous  advance  of  geographical 
knowledge.  They  do  not  show  a  steady  and  continuous 
progress  toward  accuracy.  Information  which  may  have 
been  accepted  as  truth  respecting  certain  regions  or  geo- 
graphical areas,  and  have  been  recorded  as  such  by  one  or 
by  many  of  the  map  makers,  would  often  be  held  as  doubt- 
ful by  those  of  succeeding  years,  to  be  accepted  and 
rejected  again  in  turn.  Blaeu's  intimate  acquaintance 

11  See  Baudet,  p.  15.  12  See  Baudet,  p.  14. 

20 


with  mathematics  and  astronomy  as  related  to  geography, 
particularly  as  related  to  cartography,  admirably  fitted 
him  for  a  certain  leadership  in  this  field.  We  have  from 
Vossius  the  information  that  Blaeu  undertook  the  meas- 
urement of  a  degree  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  to  the  end 
that  he  might  aid  the  map  maker  in  improving  his  work 
and  serve  especially  the  cause  of  navigation.  In  his  at- 
tempts to  find  a  new  and  better  method  for  terrestrial 
measurements,  it  seems  probable  that  he  anticipated  the 
work  of  the  great  mathematician  Snellius,  whose  results 
were  first  published  in  the  year  1617,  and  to  whom  credit  is 
generally  given  for  having  employed  a  new  method  of 
procedure  based  upon  triangulation.13  Blaeu's  measure- 
ments, made  along  the  coast  of  the  Netherlands  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Meuse  to  the  Texel,  were  never  published, 
probably  for  the  reason,  as  suggested  by  Vossius,  that  he 
may  have  distrusted  their  accuracy.  The  mathematician 
Picard,  in  his  Voyage  d'Uranibourg,14  writes  in  the  month 
of  July,  1671,  a  brief  word  concerning  Blaeu's  contribu- 
tions toward  the  solution  of  problems  having  to  do  with 
terrestrial  measurements,  giving  us  in  this  word  practically 
the  only  information  we  have  concerning  the  matter.  Ac- 
cording to  Picard,  Blaeu's  measurements  gave  results  with 
an  error  of  but  66  meters,  whereas  for  the  same  measure- 
ments, Snellius's  results  gave  an  error  of  no  less  than  3880 
meters.  Had  Blaeu  more  persistently  carried  on  his  studies 
in  this  particular  branch  of  mathematical  geography,  his 
name  doubtless  would  have  been  with  the  very  first  in  a 
list  of  those  who  have  made  contribution  to  the  science  of 

is  The  report  of  this  survey  may  be          1*  Picard,  J.     Ouvrages  de  mathe- 
found    in    Snellius,    W.    Eratosthenes       matique.     A   la  Haye,  chez  P.  Gossv 
Batavus,  de  terrae  ambitus  vera  quan-       et  J.  Neaulme,  1731. 
titate,  a  Willebrordi  Snellio  suscitatus. 
Lugd.  Batav.,  1617. 

21 


terrestrial  measurement  and  to  a  reform  of  the  maps.    His 
aim  was  set  in  the  right  direction,  and  we  are  safe  in  saying 
that  none,  in  his  day,  made  greater  contribution  toward  the 
attainment  of  accuracy  in  map  drawing  than  did  he.    To 
be  able  to  understand  the  nature  of  the  errors  so  common 
in  chart  making  and  to  be  able  to  correct  the  same  were 
two  very  different  matters,  and  although  Blaeu  was  able 
to  point  out  many  errors,  such,  for  example,  as  pertained 
to  latitude  and  longitude,  his  maps  do  not  indicate  that  he 
was  able  to  overcome  all  difficulties.    His  was  not  the  day 
for  scientifically  accurate  results.    Years  had  yet  to  pass 
before  that  end  could  be  attained.    To  some  of  his  errors, 
and  to  certain  improvements  of  his,  attention  will  be  di- 
rected later.    He  appears  to  have  been  especially  desirous, 
at  all  times,  of  acquiring  detailed  geographical  and  astro- 
nomical information  from  navigators  who  visited  distant 
regions,  making  request  of  them  that  their  observations 
should  be  reported  to  him.    In  a  letter  to  W.  Schickard, 
dated  June  24,  1634,  Blaeu  wrote,  "When  the  directors  of 
the  East  India  Company  placed  me  at  the  head  of  their 
department  of  hydrography  a  year  ago,  I  requested  them 
to  charge  all  pilots  and  masters  who  sailed  for  India  to 
observe  all  eclipses,  in  whatever  part  they  might  be  seen, 
and  this  has  been  done." 15    His  desire  to  be  of  assistance  to 
others  in  giving  out  such  information  as  might  come  into 
his  possession  is  made  evident  by  the  further  word  in  his 
letter  to  Schickard  assuring  him  that  "if  observations  of 
eclipses  from  India  or  other  places  on  the  way  are  sent  to 
me,  I  shall  be  pleased  to  inform  you  of  them." 

The  determination  of  longitude,  particularly  at  sea,  re- 
mained for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  after  Blaeu's 

IB  This  letter  is  quoted  by  Baudet,pp.  172-174. 

22 


a  most  perplexing  problem,  a  problem,  however,  of  the 
greatest  significance  in  the  art  of  navigation,  miscalcula- 
tions being  often  the  cause  of  most  serious  disasters.  The 
rulers  of  the  maritime  states  of  western  Europe  not  infre- 
quently offered  liberal  reward  for  its  solution.  Philip  III 
of  Spain,  for  instance,  promised  an  annuity  of  6000 
ducats  to  the  one  who  would  first  devise  a  method  for  deter- 
mining longitude.16  Numerous  attempts  were  made  in 
Spain  and  Portugal,  as  a  result  of  the  promised  reward, 
but  the  problem  remained  unsolved.  The  States  General 
of  Holland,  for  instance,  offered  a  liberal  reward  to  Plan- 
cius  should  a  plan  he  submitted  prove  to  be  of  value,  which 
plan  he  had  based  upon  the  declination  of  the  needle ;  and 
in  the  records  of  that  body,  bearing  date  May  21,  1601,  we 
read  that  a  reward  of  150  pounds  was  promised  to  any  one 
who,  having  made  an  expedition  for  the  purpose  of  deter- 
mining longitude  and  latitude,  could  obtain  the  support  of 
six  or  eight  sea  captains  that  his  method  was  of  real  value.17 
Blaeu  often  figured  somewhat  conspicuously  as  an  expert 
in  passing  upon  the  solution  of  certain  problems  which 
were  offered.  Resolutions  of  the  States  General,  for  exam- 
ple, make  mention  of  a  plan  submitted  by  Thomas  Learner, 
an  Englishman  residing  in  Amsterdam,  but  it  appears  that 
no  satisfactory  agreement  could  be  entered  into  with  him 
on  his  first  plans,  and  it  was,  therefore,  decided  to  submit 
his  subsequent  propositions  to  the  College  of  Admiralty 
of  Amsterdam,  authorizing  this  body  to  ask  for  a  demon- 
stration of  the  new  invention  in  its  presence,  to  have  it 
investigated  by  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeu  and  other  masters 

is  See  Lelewel,  J.  Geographic  du  if  See  De  Jonge,  J.  K.  J.  De  op- 
Moyen  Age,  Bruxelles,  1852-1857,  vol.  komst  van  het  Nederlandsch  gezag 
II,  p.  194.  in  Oost-Indw,  1862-1909,  vol.  I,  pp. 

88-89. 

23 


in  this  art  together  with  such  experienced  navigators  and 
pilots  as  the  College  might  see  fit  to  choose,  to  examine  it 
carefully  and  impartially  with  especial  reference  to  its 
practical  value,  and  to  follow  their  best  judgment  as  to  the 
advisability  of  attempting  to  make  use  of  the  invention.18 
On  July  3,  1612,  the  Council  of  the  Admiralty  sent  word 
to  the  States  General  that  the  aforesaid  Learner  had  been 
examined,  in  accord  with  the  letter  of  December  21,  1611, 
at  different  times,  and  at  his  request  again  and  again  in  its 
presence,  by  "Willem  Jansz,"  and  by  many  other  persons 
experienced  in  mathematics  and  navigation,  in  order  to 
find  out  the  truth  relative  to  his  proposition ;  that  they  had 
charged  the  judges  to  examine  honestly,  and  that  it  had 
been  unanimously  concluded  the  invention  was  wholly 
worthless.19  It  is  not  without  interest  to  note  that  Learner 
made  an  especial  appeal  to  the  Admiralty  of  Amsterdam, 
charging  the  committee  with  partiality  and  with  inability 
to  judge  the  case,  but  we  are  not  informed  that  the  Ad- 
miralty altered  its  opinion. 

Taking  into  consideration  the  extensive  commerce  and 
interest  in  navigation  of  the  United  Provinces  in  this  pe- 
riod, it  does  not  occasion  surprise  that  Galileo,  after  having 
offered  in  vain  to  Philip  III  his  plan  for  a  new  method  of 
determining  longitude,  should  decide  to  present  the  same 
to  the  States  General  of  the  Provinces.20  This  plan  he 
based  upon  his  discovery  in  1610  of  the  satellites  of  Jupiter 
and  the  valuable  data  furnished  him  through  a  study  of 


is  See  Baudet,  p.  18.  be    found    in    Kastner,    A.    G.    Ge- 

19  See  Baudet,  pp.  18-19.  schichte    der   Mathematik,   1796,   vol. 

20  Reference  to  Galileo  and  his  at-  IV,   p.   207;   Galileo   Galilei:    Opere, 
tempts  to  solve  the  problems  relative  III,  p.  1^2;  Baudet,  pp.  131-145. 

to  the  determination  of  longitude  may 

24 


the  eclipses  of  these  satellites.  Galileo  himself  tells  us  of 
his  negotiations  with  Philip  of  Spain,  stating  that  the  King 
informed  him  of  the  many  inventions  which  had  been  sent 
to  him,  and  which  he  had  accepted,  only  to  find  afterward 
that  they  were  of  no  practical  value.  Having  been  so  often 
deceived,  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  a  great  deal  of 
money  had  been  wasted,  and  had,  therefore,  decided  to  be 
more  careful  in  future.  It  was  not  until  August,  1636, 
that  Galileo  decided  upon  presenting  his  plan  to  the  States 
General,  as  he  informed  Hugo  Grotius,  then  Swedish  con- 
sul at  the  French  Court,  and  not  until  November  of  that 
year  that  Laurens  Reael  handed  to  the  States  a  letter  from 
him  containing  an  explanation  of  his  method,  with  an  offer 
of  the  plan  to  that  distinguished  body.  Blaeu  is  again 
chosen  as  one  of  four  experts  to  examine  and  report  on  the 
invention.  Galileo's  plan  was  well  adapted  for  the  deter- 
mination of  longitude  on  land,  but  because  of  the  ship's 
motion  on  the  high  seas  it  did  not  prove  to  be  practical 
for  navigators,  though  he  suggested  the  placing  of  his 
instruments  and  the  observer  in  a  vessel  of  water  on  the 
ship's  deck,  thinking  thus  to  counterbalance  the  ship's  mo- 
tion. By  resolution  of  April  25,  1637,  he  was  to  receive 
a  reward  for  the  new  method  he  had  suggested,  but  it  does 
not  appear  that  it  was  paid  to  him. 

Blaeu's  training  admirably  fitted  him  to  serve  his  coun- 
try in  matters  pertaining  to  its  maritime  interests,  and  its 
calls  as  well  as  its  rewards  for  his  services  were  not  infre- 
quent. As  further  proof  of  the  confidence  that  his  con- 
temporaries had  in  his  knowledge  of  geography  and 
navigation,  the  States  General  of  Amsterdam,  January  3, 
1633,  by  resolution  appointed  Blaeu  map  maker  of  the 
Republic,  an  honorable  position  held  by  him  until  his 

25 


death,  being  then  successively  passed  on  to  his  son  and  to 
his  grandson.  In  a  resolution  of  October  23, 1666,  we  read 
that  no  house  engaged  in  commerce  will  be  allowed  to  send 
any  marine  maps  to  India,  or  have  them  taken  by  captains 
of  vessels,  except  those  made  by  Blaeu;  and  in  a  resolution 
of  1670  it  is  stated  that  to  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeu,  map 
maker  in  ordinary  of  the  Company,  instruction  has  been 
given  to  examine  the  journals  of  the  pilots  and  to  correct 
and  improve  the  maps. 

It  is  not  easy  at  this  date  to  determine  the  justice  of  the 
several  complaints  which  we  find  were  occasionally  made 
by  certain  map  makers  of  the  Netherlands  in  the  early 
seventeenth  century  against  fellow  countrymen.  There 
was  so  much  borrowing  one  from  the  other  without  credit 
that  it  would  be  an  exceedingly  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
task  to  give  a  complete  catalogue  of  any  one  of  the  several 
map  makers'  work.  Rivalry  often  ran  strong,  and  the 
authorities  not  infrequently  were  urged  to  exercise  special 
diligence  to  prevent  the  infringement  of  a  copyrighted 
plate,  or  one  that  was  protected,  as  they  at  that  time  ex- 
pressed it,  by  an  octroi.  Between  Willem  Blaeu  and 
Joannes  Janssonius  this  rivalry  was  particularly  marked, 
each  claiming  at  times  an  infringement  by  the  other. 
Whether  it  was  for  protection  against  Janssonius  that 
Blaeu  in  1608  presented  a  special  plea  to  the  States  of 
Holland  and  West  Friesland,  asking  that  he  be  made 
secure  against  the  loss  caused  by  pirated  editions  of  works 
published  by  him,  is  not  certain.  He  informed  the  States 
that  he  had  given  himself  hope  of  being  able  to  support  his 
family  in  an  honest  way,  and  that  he  would  have  succeeded 
with  God's  mercy  and  blessing,  if  certain  individuals  en- 
gaged in  the  same  business  had  not  undertaken  to  copy  his 

26 


new  works,  as  well  as  his  enlarged  and  improved  works.21 
This  rivalry  between  Blaeu  and  Janssonius  continued  for 
many  years,  involving  in  some  degree  Jodocus  Hondius, 
the  father-in-law  of  Janssonius.  It  seems  probable  that 
Blaeu's  complaint  of  1608  touched  in  some  manner  his 
large  World  Map  of  1605,  since,  as  before  stated,  there  is  a 
striking  resemblance  between  this  and  the  World  Map  of 
Hondius  issued  about  1611,  on  which  he  must  have  been  at 
work  for  some  years,  a  similarity  in  which  the  very  differ- 
ences and  slight  variations  cannot  be  without  peculiar  sig- 
nificance.22 

If  Blaeu  won  deserved  renown  through  his  scientific  at- 
tainments, so  the  Blaeu  press  became  renowned  for  the 
excellence  of  the  work  which  bore  its  imprint.  Its  map 
engravers  were  among  the  most  skilful  employed  in  the 
workshops  of  the  Netherlands,  its  types  were  unexcelled  in 
simple  but  artistic  form,  unless  perchance  one  may  accord 
first  place  to  the  Elzevir  press.  His  good  work,  as  we 
know,  was  a  spur  to  others,  as,  for  example,  to  Hondius 
and  Janssonius  in  the  issue  of  their  Atlas  of  1633. 

The  list  of  works  which  issued  from  this  famous  printing 
house  in  so  far  as  we  have  accurate  information,  is  an  ex- 
ceedingly long  one,  and  the  titles  include  many  which  do 
not  touch  upon  matters  geographical,  hence  do  not  call  for 
consideration  in  this  brief  sketch.  We  may,  therefore,  pass 
to  a  more  detailed  word  concerning  those  works  which  bear 
particularly  upon  geography  and  navigation,  to  his  maps 
and  globes. 


21  See    Extract    uit    de    Resol.    der  to  some  of  the  many  striking  similari- 
Staten  van  Holland  en    West-Vries-  ties,  which  seem  to  give  conclusive  evi- 
land,  5  Aug.,  1608,  given  by  Baudet,  dence   that    Hondius   borrowed    from 
pp.  156-158.  Blaeu. 

22  See  p.  58  for  specific  reference 

27 


IT  does  not  seem  possible  at  this  date  to  enumerate  all 
the  maps  which  might  properly  be  called  the  special  work 
of  Blaeu,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  could  have  been  done  in 
Blaeu's  day,  since  he  so  often  borrowed  here  a  little  and 
there  a  little  which  he  incorporated  in  his  maps.  Refer- 
ence has  before  been  made  to  the  practice  of  map  makers 
borrowing  one  from  the  other,  sometimes  more,  sometimes 
less,  without  credit.  Not  all  of  Blaeu's  maps  are  signed, 
and  but  comparatively  few  of  them  are  dated.  He  did  not 
consider  it  essential  always  to  employ  the  same  name  when 
affixing  his  signature.  Sometimes  he  gave  his  name  as 
Guilielmus  Janssonius  Blaeu,  Guil.  Jansz.  Blaeu,  Guil  j  el  - 
mus  Blaeuw;  sometimes  as  Guil.  Jansz.  Alcmar,  Guiliel- 
mus Janssonius  Alcmarianus;  sometimes  as  Guiljelmus 
Caesius,  or  G.  J.  Caesius,  in  which,  in  accord  with  a  prac- 
tice of  the  time,  he  had  classicized  his  name  Blaeu;  some- 
times the  name  is  coupled  with  that  of  the  son  as  Guil.  et 
Johan.  Blaeu,  and  on  certain  maps  we  find  the  names  J.  or 
Joan.  Blaeu,  Johannes  et  Cornelius  Blaeu,  maps  which 
were  wholly  or  in  part  the  work  of  the  sons,  but  were 
drawn  after  the  manner  of  the  father. 

Next  to  his  terrestrial  globe  maps  of  1599  and  1602,  his 
oldest  known  map  is  that  of  1605,  here  issued  in  facsimile, 
and  described  below.  His  "Nywe  Paskaerte"  of  1606,  of 
which  but  few  copies  are  now  known,  appears  to  have  been 
the  first  which  he  especially  designed  for  navigators.  Bau- 
det  gives  a  somewhat  enthusiastic  description  of  a  copy  of 
this  map  printed  on  parchment,  which  at  the  time  of  his 
writing  was  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Tiele.23  It  is  drawn 
with  the  west  at  the  top,  having  a  width  of  76  cm.  and  a 

23  See  Baudet,  P.  J.  H.    Naschrift   op.   Leven    en  werken 
van    W.    Jz.  Blaeu,  pp.  15-18. 

28 


breadth  of  59  cm.,  extending  from  25°  30'  to  75°  north 
latitude,  or  from  the  Canary  Islands  on  the  south  to  the 
Beeren  Island  on  the  north,  from  Terceira  on  the  west  to 
and  including  the  Ionian  Islands  on  the  east.  In  a  car- 
touche at  the  bottom  of  the  map  is  the  following  inscrip- 
tion, given  here  in  free  translation:24  "Willem  Jansz.  to 
the  kind  reader :  In  this  map,  dear  reader,  you  will  find  all 
the  sea  coasts  of  Europe  carefully  drawn  by  Cornelius 
Doedsz.  of  Edam,  according  to  true  directions  and  eleva- 
tions, except  for  the  Mediterranean,  in  which  the  author 
has  purposely  omitted  the  elevations  from  Malta  eastward, 
and  has  only  given  direction,  according  to  our  common 
Dutch  compasses,  which,  in  the  vicinity  of  Candia  and 
Cyprus  point  a  little  too  much  toward  the  northwest,  as  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  Malta,  the  south  shore  of  Candia 
and  of  Cyprus  are  all  situated  in  latitude  36°,  although  it 
is  impossible  to  reach  them  sailing  west-east,  as  this  map 
clearly  shows."  To  the  right  of  the  above  inscription  we 
read:  "Ghedruct  t'  Amsterdam  bij  Willem  Janssoon  op't 
Waeter  inde  Sonnewijser,"  and  to  the  left,  given  here  in 
translation:  "Since  on  account  of  the  limited  space  the 
entire  Mediterranean  Sea  could  not  be  given,  we  have 
therefore  decided,  for  the  use  of  seamen,  to  add  also  the 
part  from  the  coasts  of  Barbary,  Sicily,  and  Malta,  passing 
the  Grecian  Islands,  Candia,  and  Cyprus  to  the  coast  of 
Syria."  Of  the  two  small  inset  maps,  one  represents  the 
Azores,  the  other  the  Beeren  Island  and  the  west  coast  of 
Spitzbergen.  The  eastern  part  of  the  Mediterranean, 
Greece  and  the  Ionian  Archipelago,  the  coast  of  Asia 
Minor  and  Syria,  have  been  placed  in  the  Sahara  Desert. 

24  The  inscriptions   in  the   original  Dutch  are  given  by 
Baudet:  Naschrift,  pp.  16-17. 

29 


Longitude  is  not  indicated,  but  latitude  is  given  on  the 
border,  each  degree  being  divided  into  thirds.  In  this  map 
northern  Europe  is  brought  too  far  to  the  west,  and,  in 
accord  with  the  general  representations  of  the  time,  the 
Mediterranean  is  given  too  great  an  extent  in  longitude. 
The  errors  in  latitude  are  comparatively  insignificant.  As 
one  of  the  first  examples  of  the  work  of  Blaeu's  printing 
house,  it  is  deserving  the  special  mention  given  above,  par- 
ticularly so  by  reason  of  the  distinctness  of  its  boundary 
lines,  the  excellent  form  of  its  letters,  and  the  care  with 
which  geographical  details  have  been  indicated. 

A  resolution  of  the  States  General  dated  April  25, 1608, 
gives  us  the  information  that  to  Willem  Jansz.,  map  maker 
of  Amsterdam,  the  sum  of  200  gl.  is  to  be  given  for  the 
dedication  and  presentation  of  a  book  of  sea  charts,  entitled 
"Het  Licht  der  Zeevaert,"  which  lays  down  the  coasts  and 
harbors  of  the  Western,  Northern  and  Eastern  Seas.  In 
this  we  appear  to  have  first  reference  to  Volumes  I  and  II 
of  an  important  work  by  Blaeu,  of  which  work  a  third  vol- 
ume appeared  in  1621,  protected  by  an  octroi  of  the  States 
General  for  six  years,  expressed  in  a  resolution  bearing 
date  August  13,  1618.25  This  resolution  of  the  States  in- 
forms us  that  to  Willem  Jansz.,  a  citizen  of  Amsterdam, 
an  octroi  is  granted  for  the  period  of  six  years,  to  make, 
print,  and  publish  in  the  United  Netherlands,  the  third 
part  of  his  book  entitled  "Het  Licht  der  Zeevaert,"  con- 
taining a  description  of  the  sea-coasts  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea.  Copies  of  the  first  two  volumes,  printed  in  accord 
with  the  indication  contained  in  the  resolution  referred  to 
above,  that  is,  in  1608,  appear  not  to  be  known,  but  there 
exists  a  French  edition  of  1619,  bearing  the  title  "Le  flam- 

25  An  extract  from  the  Resolution  is  given  by  Baudet,  p.  156. 

30 


Interior  of  Tycho  Brahe's  Observatory  at  Uranienburg 
From  Le  Grand  Atlas 


beau  de  la  navigation  .  .  .  Chez  Guilliaume  Jeansz.  de- 
meurant  sur  1'eau,  a  1'ensigne  du  Solaire  Dore.  1'An  1619," 
which  title  is  often  found  in  the  volume  pasted  over  an 
original  Dutch  title  dated  1620.  In  translation  this  Dutch 
title,  being  practically  the  same  as  that  in  French,  reads, 
"The  Light  of  Navigation  in  which  are  plainly  drawn  and 
described  all  the  Coasts  and  Harbours  of  the  Western, 
Northern,  Eastern  and  Mediterranean  Seas.  Also  many 
countries,  islands  and  places  of  Guinea,  Brazil,  East  and 
West  Indies.  Partly  taken  from  the  works  of  the  best 
writers  on  marine  matters  [as  Lucas  Jansz.  Waghenaer 
and  others]  but  improved  through  the  writings  of  experi- 
enced seamen,  and  by  making  use  of  their  statements  and 
explanations;  enlarged  by  many  new  descriptions  and 
maps.  All  divided  into  four  books,  each  volume  having  its 
own  index.  Hereto  have  been  added  [besides  a  course  in 
the  art  of  navigation]  new  tables  of  the  declination  of  the 
sun,  derived  from  the  observations  of  Tycho  Brahe,  and 
calculated  from  the  meridian  of  Amsterdam.  Also  new 
tables  and  instructions  in  the  right  use  of  the  Pole  Star  and 
other  Stars,  for  the  benefit  of  all  navigators."  In  1627  the 
Dutch  edition  seems  to  have  been  issued  by  "Jan  Janssoon 
wonende  op  't  water,"  the  first  part  being  dated  1626,  and 
the  second  part  dated  1625. 

In  the  dedication  of  his  third  volume  to  the  States  Gen- 
eral and  to  Prince  Maurice,  a  dedication  dated  September 
1,  1618,  there  is  to  be  found  a  statement  by  Blaeu  which 
shows  his  own  opinion  of  the  importance  of  the  first  two 
volumes.  He  writes  he  is  "assured  without  boasting  that 
this  third  volume  will  be  as  useful  as  the  two  preceding, 
containing  the  description  of  Eastern  and  Western  Navi- 
gation, of  which  Your  Honorable  Body  [States  General] 

31 


and  Your  Excellency  [Maurice]  at  other  times  have  had 
sufficient  proof  from  trustworthy  certificates  of  well  known 
navigators,  and  also  from  the  statements  of  the  famous 
pilot  Lucas  Waghenaer."  To  have  from  Lucas  Jansz. 
Waghenaer  a  favorable  criticism  concerning  a  work  which 
was  destined  to  be  considered  superior  to  his  own,  is  of  no 
little  importance.  Blaeu  further  acknowledges  in  his  in- 
troduction the  influence  of  Willem  Barentszoen's  maps 
upon  his  own,  for  he  states  "to  the  kind  reader"  that  "we 
have  for  some  years  past  collected  very  carefully  all  obser- 
vations and  plans,  by  means  of  which  we  have  improved 
and  enlarged  in  many  respects  the  descriptions  of  Willem 
Barentsz.,  whose  writings  have  been  of  much  value  to  us  in 
this  work.  Besides,  we  have  added  the  descriptions  of  all 
the  sea-coasts  in  the  east  which  were  not  laid  down  by  him, 
as  of  the  islands  of  Candia,  Cyprus,  the  coasts  of  Syria 
and  Egypt,  and  also  of  the  Greek  islands ;  and  how  one  in 
this  way  can  sail  even  to  Constantinople ;  and  we  have  put 
this  all  together."  "The  uses  of  this  Book"  he  sets  forth  in 
six  brief  introductory  chapters,  in  which  he  treats  of  "1  — 
The  difference  between  the  Dutch  and  the  Italian  marine 
maps;  2— Why  the  compass  needle  is  not  laid  directly  un- 
der the  compass  lily;  3— Why  the  marine  charts  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  are  not  drawn  showing  the  degrees  of 
latitude;  4 — How  to  reckon  latitude;  5 — How  the  declina-' 
tion  of  the  compass  needle  or  the  variation  of  the  compass 
may  be  determined;  6 — How  to  find  the  elevation  of  the 
sun  from  its  shadow." 

Blaeu's  reference  to  the  declination  of  the  needle  in  this 
introduction  is  of  considerable  scientific  importance  and 
interest.  In  his  day  the  compass  makers  found  the  needle's 
declination  for  Holland  to  be  from  about  7°  45'  to  about 

32 


8°  26'  eastward.  They  were,  therefore,  accustomed  to  lay 
the  compass  lily  a  corresponding  number  of  degrees  to  the 
left  or  westward  from  the  direction  in  which  the  needle 
pointed  that  this  lily  might  turn  to  the  true  north.  He 
found  that  in  the  Adriatic  the  declination  of  the  needle 
was  0,  and  that  in  the  Italian  compasses  the  direction  of 
the  needle  and  of  the  lily  agreed.  Compass  roses  on  Italian 
portolan  or  sailors'  charts,  therefore,  indicated  no  declina- 
tion as  the  Italian  compasses  indicated  none,  and  the  com- 
pass lily  simply  marked  the  true  meridian.  As  distances 
to  be  sailed  in  the  Mediterranean  were  not  great,  latitude, 
therefore,  was  not  laid  down,  and  longitude  was  omitted, 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  there  was  no  accurate  method  of 
determining  the  same,  consequently  vessels  sailed  from 
port  to  port  directed  only  by  the  compass.  Blaeu  wrote 
that  "since  the  skies  are  there  [in  the  Mediterranean]  al- 
most always  clear,  and  the  land  high,  and  places  are  not 
far  distant  one  from  another,  one  losing  sight  of  one  part 
of  the  coast  will  be  in  sight  of  another  part,  and  the  major- 
ity make  very  little  use  of  latitude.  The  seamen  and  those 
who  have  navigated  these  parts  have  not  taken  into  con- 
sideration the  latitudes,  and  follow  only  general  direction." 
This  being  Blaeu's  observation,  which  is  practically  taken 
word  for  word  from  Barentszoen's  introduction  to  his 
"Caertboeck,"  one  would  not,  therefore,  expect  to  find 
either  parallels  or  meridians  laid  down  on  his  maps.  He 
gives  only  compass  roses  and  direction  for  sailing  in  accord 
with  the  Dutch  compass.  On  the  maps  of  Barentszoen, 
which  maps  Blaeu  closely  followed  in  many  respects,  the 
directions  for  sailing  are  given  in  accord  with  the  Dutch 
and  with  the  Italian  compasses.  Blaeu  could  not  have,  fol- 
lowed a  better  master  in  plan  and  purpose,  and  while  not 

33 


always  indicating  just  what  he  borrowed,  he  seems  to  have 
been  inclined  to  give  adequate  praise  to  the  work  of  his 
predecessor.     It  cannot  be  without  interest  to  cite  here  a 
brief  word  from  Barentszoen's  introduction  to  his  "Caert- 
boeck,"  as  indicating  his  spirit  and  method.    He  says  "that 
not  only  being  urged  by  my  many  good  friends,  but  also 
feeling  inclined  myself  to  do  so,  since  I  always  have  been 
accustomed  from  my  boyhood  up  to  draw  as  many  maps 
as  I  found  it  possible  to  draw  of  the  countries  which  I  vis- 
ited, or  around  which  I  sailed,  giving  the  seas,  the  waters 
and  the  directions,  I  have  decided  to  publish  certain  maps 
of  the  sea-coast  of  the  Mediterranean  Seas  [which  I  have 
collected  for  some  years  past]  into  book  form,  for  the  use 
and  the  benefit  of  all  navigators,  and  persons  interested  in 
navigation.    In  part,  I  describe  what  I  myself  have  seen  on 
my  journeys,  in  part  what  I  have  learned  from  other  ex- 
perienced navigators  and  pilots,  who  have  sailed  through 
the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  to  Italy  and  the  surrounding  coun- 
tries.    And  this  I  have  carefully  arranged,  showing  all 
harbors,  roads,  bays,  courses  and  directions ;  giving  myself 
a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  incurring  a  great  deal  of  ex- 
pense.    Since  I  did  not  like  to  rely  alone  upon  myself,  I 
invited  to  my  home  several  seamen  and  pilots,  who  sailed 
the  Mediterranean  Seas,  with  whom  I  have  communicated 
about  my  work.    I  made  corrections  whenever  I  found  that 
their  observations  had  been  more  exact  than  my  own,  that 
it  might  not  seem  as  if  I,  being  proud,  intended  to  make  a 
name  for  myself,  and  as  if  I  had  done  this  work  carelessly, 
but  that  it  should  be  clear  I  had  gone  to  much  trouble." 

A  resolution  of  the  States  General,  dated  March  9, 1623, 
granted  to  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeu,  for  a  period  of  ten  years, 
the  exclusive  right  to  print  and  publish  a  work  referred  to 

34 


in  the  resolution  as  "een  compendium  van  den  Zeespiegel." 
It  appears,  however,  that  this  was  not  issued  until  1625, 
and  under  the  title  "Tafelen  van  de  declinatie  der  Sonne, 
ende  der  voornaemste  vaste  sterren,  Mitsgaders  van  't 
verscheyden  gebruyck  der  Noordsterre  Nieulycx,  alien 
Zeevaerenden  ten  dienst,  ghecalculeert  door  Willem 
Jansz.  Blauw,"  or  "Tables  of  the  declination  of  the  sun 
and  of  the  most  important  planets  with  the  different  uses 
of  the  North  Star  calculated  anew  for  the  use  of  all  navi- 
gators by  Willem  Jansz.  Blauw."  On  the  title-page  ap- 
pears a  representation  of  the  cross-staff  and  the  astrolabe, 
with  the  imprint  "f  Amsterdam  By  Willem  Jansz.  Blauw 
in  de  guide  Sonnewyser,  Met  privilegie,  Anno  1625."  The 
statement  is  made  in  the  preface  that  "from  the  exact 
observations  of  Tycho  Brahe,  we  have  calculated  new 
tables  of  the  declination  of  the  sun."  These  same  tables 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Zeespiegel  of  1627,  and  were  in- 
tended to  replace  the  old  tables  of  the  "Nieuw  Graetbouck" 
of  the  year  1605. 

A  second  privilege  granted  by  the  States  General,  dated 
March  9,  1623,  as  the  preceding,  gives  us  the  first  word 
concerning  another  work  by  Blaeu  intended  especially  for 
the  use  of  seamen.  This  work,  apparently  not  issued  until 
the  following  year,  though  a  copy  dated  1624  does  not 
seem  now  to  be  known,  bears  the  following  title  taken 
from  the  issue  of  1627:  "Zeespiegel,  Inhoudende  een  korte 
Onderwysinghe  in  de  Konst  der  Zeevaert,  en  Beschry- 
vinghe  der  Seen  en  Kusten  van  de  Oostersche,  Noordsche 
end  Westersche  Schipvaert.  Wt  ondervindinghen  van 
veel  ervaren  Zeevaerders  vergadert,  en  t'  samen  ghestelt. 
Door  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeuw  Tot  Amsterdam.  Ghedruckt 
by  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeuw,  in  de  vergulde  Sonnewyser 

35 


1627.  Met  Privilegie  voor  thien  Jaren";  or,  "Mirror  of 
the  Sea,  containing  brief  instruction  in  the  art  of  Naviga- 
tion, and  a  description  of  the  seas  and  coasts  of  the  East- 
ern, Northern  and  Western  Navigation.  Collected  and 
arranged  from  the  experiences  of  numerous  Navigators. 
By  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeuw,  At  Amsterdam.  Printed  by 
Willem  Jansz.  Blaeuw,  in  the  gilded  Sun-dial,  1627.  With 
a  privilege  for  ten  years." 

Blaeu  figures  his  declination  tables  from  the  years  1624, 
1625,  1626  and  1627,  on  a  parallel  of  the  earth  from  the 
meridian  of  the  west  point  of  England,  since  this  longitude 
was  most  frequently  used  by  the  Dutch  navigators  in  sail- 
ing the  Channel,  as  well  as  in  sailing  the  coasts  of  France, 
Portugal  or  Spain.  The  work  is  divided  into  two  parts, 
the  first  being  a  short  treatise  on  the  art  of  navigation,  and 
the  second  a  collection  of  maps  or  sea  charts.  We  have  in 
this  work  a  striking  illustration  of  the  lingering  influence 
of  Ptolemy,  for  he  takes  as  a  basis  of  many  of  the  ideas  he 
presents  the  work  of  Ptolemy.  The  book  does  not  under- 
take, as  Baudet  points  out,  to  add  to  or  improve  the 
methods  of  defining  geographical  location.  It  does  not 
undertake  to  correct  what  were  the  known  errors  in  his 
day.  He  treats  in  his  first  part  of  the  several  spheres;  he 
presents  what  he  considers  to  be  acceptable  proof  that  the 
earth  is  in  the  center  of  the  universe,  as  the  stars  appear  at 
all  times  to  be  of  the  same  size,  in  whatever  part  of  the 
heavens  they  may  be ;  he  explains  the  construction  and  the 
use  of  the  cross-staff  by  means  of  which  the  observer  de- 
termines the  altitude  of  the  sun;  he  points  out  that  in  deter- 
mining latitude  by  observing  the  altitude  of  the  Pole  Star, 
2°  42'  should  be  taken  as  the  distance  from  the  star  to  the 
pole;  he  discusses  the  subject  of  atmospheric  refraction, 

36 


basing  his  observations  on  those  of  Tycho  Brahe,  which 
discussion  is  of  special  interest  since  it  sets  forth  the  atti- 
tude of  seamen  of  that  day  toward  this  subject,  and  the 
difficulty  they  had  in  meeting  it  by  reason  of  the  imperfect 
instruments  with  which  they  made  their  calculations. 

Blaeu's  charts  are  drawn  on  a  plane  or  cylindrical  pro- 
jection, although  the  projection  of  Mercator  had  been 
known  for  more  than  half  a  century.  This  fact  seems  to 
suggest  the  idea  that  in  publishing  his  book  he  had  not  so 
much  in  view  the  question  of  the  advance  of  the  art  of 
navigation  as  to  meet  a  desire  for  a  work  in  agreement 
scientifically  with  the  knowledge  of  seamen  of  his  day.  In 
point  of  accuracy,  Blaeu's  charts  in  this  work  are  wanting 
much,  but  we  must  not  forget  the  imperfect  methods  em- 
ployed in  his  day  for  obtaining  geographical  location.  If 
accuracy  was  wanting  in  the  land  maps,  much  less  could 
we  expect  to  find  accuracy  in  the  marine  charts.  Seamen 
in  part  were  accustomed  to  estimate  longitude  and  distance 
from  change  in  latitude,  and  the  direction  in  which  they 
sailed.  The  speed  of  a  ship  was  often  estimated  from  the 
size  and  the  number  of  sails  used.  It  was  not  until  about 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  that  the  log  was 
brought  into  common  use,  consequently  Blaeu  makes  no 
reference  to  it.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  a  somewhat 
similar  instrument  was  employed  about  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century  for  measuring  the  angle  which  the  axis 
of  the  ship  made  with  its  track  as  observed  on  the  surface 
of  the  water.  In  his  "Spieghel  der  Zeevaert"  of  1584, 
Waghenaer  states  that  for  measuring  this  angle,  "it  is  nec- 
essary to  let  the  plumb  line  log  behind  with  a  piece  of  wood 
attached  or  otherwise."  A  comparison  of  the  maps  of 
Blaeu  with  those  of  his  distinguished  predecessors,  Lucas 

37 


Jansz.  Waghenaer  and  Willem  Barentszoen,  warrants  our 
assigning  to  him  first  place,  both  in  point  of  execution 
and  in  the  nearer  approach  to  correctness  in  his  drawing. 
John  Blaeu,  in  his  Atlas  of  1664,  referring  to  the  maps  of 
Waghenaer  and  Barentszoen,  says  that  "my  late  father 
not  only  greatly  improved  both  of  these,  but  also  enlarged 
them  for  the  benefit  of  navigation,  adding  to  them  so  much 
that  was  lacking  that  his  may  justly  be  called  a  new  work." 
In  1646,  John  Blaeu  printed  a  fourth  part  of  the  Zee- 
spiegel,  bearing  the  title  "Vierde  deel  der  Zeespiegel,  in- 
houdende  eene  beschryvinge  der  See-havenen,  Reeden,  en 
Kusten  van  de  Middelandsche  Schipvaert.  Uyt  onder- 
vindingen  van  vele  ervaren  Zeevaerders  by  een  vergadert, 
en  t'  sameiigestelt,  door  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeu,  t'  Amster- 
dam. Gedruckt  by  Johan  Blaeu,  op  't  Water,  in  de  ver- 
gulde  Zonnewyser.  1646,"  or  "Fourth  Part  of  the  Mirror 
of  the  Sea,  containing  a  description  of  the  Harbors,  Road- 
steads, and  Coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  Navigation. 
Collected  from  the  experiences  of  famous  Navigators,  and 
arranged  by  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeu  at  Amsterdam.  Printed 
by  John  Blaeu  on  the  Water  in  the  gilded  Sun-dial,  1646." 
There  is  included  in  this  fourth  part  the  third  part  of  the 
"Licht  der  Zeevaert"  of  1621,  with  the  arrangement  of  the 
contents  and  the  size  of  the  volume  somewhat  altered.  That 
which  is  true  of  certain  map  publishers  in  this  day,  in  their 
attitude  toward  their  own  publications,  was  true  of  the 
publishers  of  these  Willem  Blaeu  maps  after  his  death.  So 
long  as  there  were  publishers  for  them,  it  was  not  thought 
to  be  necessary  to  improve  them,  especially  so  since  John 
Blaeu,  who  had  succeeded  his  father  in  charge  of  the  busi- 
ness, had  taken  up  what  he  thought  to  be  more  profitable 
printing  than  the  issue  of  charts  for  seamen.  Other  pub- 

38 


lishers,  after  the  middle  of  the  century,  were  entering  the 
field,  and  the  Blaeu  marine  maps  in  course  of  time  came  to 
be  regarded  as  obsolete. 

What  we  may  call  his  first  Atlas  of  land  maps  appeared 
in  1631,  with  the  title  "Appendix  Theatri  Ortelii  et  Atlan- 
tis Mercatoris."  It  contains  maps  which  had  been  pre- 
viously issued,  some  by  himself,  many  by  other  map  mak- 
ers, while  in  numerous  instances  he  left  it  difficult  to  decide 
both  date  and  origin.  We  know  that  as  early  as  1605  he 
was  issuing  maps  and  charts  in  single  sheets,  following  the 
example  of  Ortelius,  Mercator,  Judeus  and  others.  Bau- 
det,  it  may  be  noted,  expresses  himself  as  being  unable  to 
decide  whether  the  World  Map  of  1605,  referred  to  in  the 
resolution  of  the  States  General  of  the  23d  of  April  of 
that  year,  was  of  this  character,  not  knowing  of  the  exist- 
ence of  a  copy  of  the  map  here  reproduced  in  facsimile 
from  that  belonging  to  the  Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
"My  belief,"  he  says,  "is  that  the  World  Map  of  1605  is 
the  Nova  totius  terrarum  orbis  geographica  ac  hydrogra- 
phica  tabula,  auct.  Guiljelmo  Blaeuw,"  according  to  Mer- 
cator 's  projection,  to  be  found  in  the  "Toonneel  des 
Aerdrycx."26  Not  unlike  Ortelius,  Blaeu  often  selected 
for  addition  to  his  own  original  land  maps  the  best  which 
he  found  it  possible  for  him  to  use,  redrafting  them  on  a 
scale  to  fit  his  own  Atlas.  In  general,  he  greatly  improved 

26  Baudet  says:  "I  am  unable  to  de-  tor's  projection,  to  be   found  in  the 

termine  whether  the    World  Map  of  'Toonneel   des   Aerdrycx.'     It   is   not 

1605  and  the  Mappa  Mundi,  in  two  dated,    but    apparently    was    printed 

hemispheres,  of  that  year,  as  referred  from  a  plate  which  had  been  used  in 

to    in    the    resolution    of    the    States  1606,  though  improved  somewhat,  but 

General,  are  the  same.    I  believe,  how-  from  it  the  date  had  been  erased,  which 

ever,  that  the  World  Map  is  the  'Nova  however,     according    to    Lelewel,    is 

totius  terrarum  orbis  geographica  ac  slightly  visible  "on  some  copies."    See 

hydrographica  tabula,  auct.  Guiljelmo  Baudet,  pp.  85-86.    The  "Nova  totius 

Blaeuw,'  drawn  according  to  Merca-  terrarum"  is  reproduced,  p.  52. 

39 


their  character  by  his  own  re-engraving,  giving  us  maps  of 
superior  excellence  in  line,  in  letter,  and  in  ornamentation. 
He  was  not  unmindful  of  the  high  favor  in  which  the 
Atlases  of  Ortelius  and  of  Mercator  were  held.  He,  there- 
fore, shrewdly  calls  attention  to  their  work  by  giving  to  his 
own  a  title  which  suggests  a  connection,  though  in  fact  he 
was  scarcely  justified  in  calling  his  Atlas  an  Appendix  to 
Ortelius  and  Mercator.  This  Atlas  of  1631  contains  one 
hundred  and  three  maps,  with  text  in  Latin  usually  printed 
on  the  back  of  each.  Seven  of  his  maps  are  dated,  twenty- 
seven  have  the  names  of  the  original  maker,  and  many  of 
them  are  signed  Guilj.  Blaeu,  G.  J.  Caesius  or  Guiljelmus 
Janssonius  et  Joannes  Blaeu. 

He  begins  his  preface  with  much  praise  of  Ortelius  and 
Mercator,  observing  that  Mercator  died  untimely  for  his 
work,  after  finishing  Europe  except  Spain,  and  he  as- 
sumes it  as  his  task  to  publish  an  Appendix  to  the  Atlases 
of  these  great  men.  He  states  that  his  Atlas  will  contain 
maps  of  countries  already  drawn  by  them,  but  he  promises 
to  improve  them.  That  he  did  improve  not  a  few  of  them 
is  made  evident  by  a  close  comparison,  yet  he  left  many 
features  uncorrected,  which  easily  could  have  been  brought 
to  date. 

He  often  intimated  to  his  friend,  W.  Schickard,  his  ever 
present  desire  to  improve  his  maps,  in  which  references  we 
find  the  first  promises  of  his  work  issued  in  1634  under  the 
title  "Toonneel  des  Aerdrycx."  In  a  letter  dated  Amster- 
dam, November  22, 1633,  he  tells  his  friend  of  his  prepara- 
tion for  this  new  Atlas,27  expressing  the  hope  that  he 
would  be  able  to  complete  the  first  part  during  the  winter, 
and  accepting  from  him  an  offer  for  a  new  map  of  Wiir- 

2T  See   Baudet,  pp.   96-98,   for  extracts  from  his  letters  to  Schickard. 

40 


temberg,  for  which  he  was  ready  and  willing  to  pay  the 
price  asked.  This  map  he  thought  would  add  much  to  his 
maps  of  Germany.  December  6,  1633,  he  writes  again  to 
Schickard:  "The  esteemed  gentleman,  Hugo  Grotius,  has 
informed  you  that  I  am  planning  a  new  Atlas,  and  that  a 
considerable  part  of  it  is  already  completed,  in  addition  to 
my  Appendix  Theatri  Ortelii  et  Atlantis  Mercatoris, 
which  has  been  published,  so  that  I  will  be  able  to  issue  yet 
this  winter  two  parts  of  reasonable  size,  one  part  of  which 
will  contain  maps  of  upper  and  lower  Germany,  and  as  I 
should  like  to  add  this  map  of  Wurtemberg  which  you 
have  drawn,  and  which  you  have  promised  me,  I  therefore 
wish  to  postpone  the  publication  a  little  longer.  You 
write  that  this  map  of  Wurtemberg  which  you  have  drawn 
on  twenty  sheets  can  be  reduced  to  four  of  common  size. 
If,  however,  you  deem  it  better  to  make  use  of  more  sheets, 
you  may  follow  your  pleasure.  Whatever  your  decision,  I 
will  pay  the  price  which  you  ask  for  it."  On  January  12, 
1634,  Blaeu  writes  Schickard  again:  "I  am  pleased  to 
learn  you  agree  with  my  opinion  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  maps.  It  is  my  intention  to  place  two  or  three  provinces 
on  one  sheet,  but  it  will  be  necessary,  however,  to  leave  some 
open  space  in  which  I  can  write  the  titles  of  the  maps,  arms 
of  the  country,  and  the  scale  of  miles.  Do  not  let  this  worry 
you,  however,  but  follow  the  divisions  which  are  most  easy 
for  you.  In  the  case  of  maps  so  carefully  drawn,  it  seems 
to  me  the  larger  the  number,  the  better  it  will  be.  Forests, 
buildings,  etc.,  may  be  but  roughly  marked.  If  you  will 
give  the  size  and  exact  location,  I  will  take  care  that  the 
emblematical  figures  are  properly  represented";  and  he 
adds  that  "in  order  to  make  sure  that  the  completed  work 
is  well  done,  I  shall  let  you  correct  the  plates  one  at  a 

41 


time."  Somewhat  later  Blaeu  writes  again  that  "I  shall 
give  especial  attention  to  the  engraving  of  the  plates, 
printing  lightly  from  them  at  first,  in  order  that  changes 
may  be  made  before  the  final  engraving  is  done.  .  .  .  Take 
as  much  time  as  you  may  need,  and  in  case  you  are  un- 
able to  finish  them  during  the  summer,  you  may  also  have 
the  winter."  June  24,  1634,  he  writes  to  Schickard:  "I 
have  published  the  first  part  of  my  Atlas,  containing  one 
hundred  and  sixty  maps,  with  descriptive  text  in  Ger- 
man, translated  from  Latin.  In  the  Fall  I  shall  publish 
the  Latin,  French  and  Dutch  texts,"  these  titles  being,  re- 
spectively, "Theatrum  Orbis  Terrarum,"  but  dated  1635; 
"Le  theatre  du  monde  ou  nouvel  atlas,"  but  issued  in  1634; 
"Toonneel  des  Aerdrycx,"  1634.  The  arrangement  and 
number  of  maps  in  the  several  issues  do  not  agree,  but  in 
the  main  features  they  are  the  same.  The  "Toonneel"  may 
be  considered  an  enlargement  of  his  "Appendix"  done  in 
practically  the  same  manner,  but  with  the  addition  of 
numerous  details,  and  ornamented  with  additional  illus- 
trations. That  he  borrowed  from  the  "Nieuwen  Atlas" 
of  Joannes  Janssonius  and  Henricus  Hondius  becomes 
evident  in  a  comparison  of  the  descriptions  of  "Germany," 
the  "Netherlands,"  and  of  certain  other  parts. 

The  "Appendix"  and  the  first  two  parts  of  the  "Toon- 
neel," published  by  Willem  Blaeu  and  his  son  John,  may 
be  regarded  as  the  beginning  of  the  large  Blaeu  Atlas  first 
issued  in  1662  in  eleven  volumes,  a  work  of  unsurpassed 
excellence ;  indeed,  we  may  refer  to  it  as  the  foremost  atlas 
produced  by  the  great  Dutch  atlas  makers  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Its  completion  and  issue,  after  the  death 
of  the  father,  Willem,  places  it  therefore  without  the  scope 
of  this  sketch,  yet  as  he  had  contributed  so  much  to  insure 

42 


its  success  by  his  own  early  activities,  a  word  of  reference 
to  it  is  here  fitting.  Editions  of  this  work  appeared  in 
rapid  succession  in  the  Dutch,  the  French,  the  Latin  and 
the  Spanish  language,  the  number  of  volumes  being  either 
nine,  ten,  eleven  or  twelve  in  each  edition,  varying  other- 
wise but  little  in  the  essential  features.  As  numerous  copies 
of  the  work  were  printed  in  each  edition,  it  is  therefore  not 
a  publication  which  can  be  called  rare  even  in  this  day. 
Most  of  these  editions  were  printed  from  the  superior  type 
and  copper  plates  of  the  Blaeu  printing  house,  and  on 
paper  of  fine  quality ;  some  were  issued  in  costly  bindings, 
having  their  maps,  coat  of  arms  and  emblems  of  states  and 
of  royalty  exquisitely  colored.  Copies  of  the  atlas  were 
especially  prepared  for  rulers  and  for  statesmen  of  re- 
nown. We  are  informed  that  to  Admiral  de  Ruyter  an 
especially  fine  copy  was  presented  after  the  two  days'  bat- 
tle of  1666,  and  that  in  the  name  of  the  States  General  a 
copy  bound  in  royal  purple  was  presented  to  the  Sultan 
Mohammed  IV,  with  which  he  was  so  well  pleased  that  he 
ordered  its  translation  into  the  Turkish  language. 


IN  Blaeu's  day  globes  were  held  to  be  of  the  highest 
value  as  aids  in  the  study  of  geography  and  astronomy.28 
Seamen  engaged  in  transoceanic  navigation  counted  on  a 
terrestrial  and  a  celestial  globe  as  essential  to  a  navigator's 
complete  outfit  of  instruments,  and  as  Blaeu  was  especially 
desirous  of  making  his  scientific  knowledge  serve  the  cause 
of  navigation,  it  was  but  natural  that  he  should  turn  his 
attention  to  globe  making. 

28  See  Fiorini,  Matteo.     Sfere  Ter-  Erd-   und   Himmelsgloben,   ihre    Ge- 

restri  e  Celesti  di  autore  Italiano  op-  schichte  und  Konstruktlon,  nach  dem 

pure    fatte    o    conservate    in    Italia.  Italienischen     Matteo     Fiorinis     frei 

Roma,  Presso   la  Societa  Geografica  bearbeitet.    Leipzig,  1895. 
Italiana,     1898;    Gunther,    Sigmund. 

43 


Among  those  skilled  in  the  art  of  globe  construction  in 
the  late  sixteenth  and  the  early  seventeenth  century,  the 
Low  Countries  could  claim  such  distinguished  men  as  Ger- 
hardus  Mercator,  Jacobus  [Florentius]  van  Langren  and 
Arnoldus  [Florentius]  van  Langren,  father  and  son, 
Jodocus  Hondius  and  Guilielmus  Jans.  Blaeu,  and  none 
of  these  was  more  skilful  than  the  last  named.  Both  for 
the  number  constructed  and  for  the  quality  of  the  work,  his 
globes  are  cartographical  and  astronomical  treasures  of 
the  first  value. 

The  oldest  known  terrestrial  globe  extant  is  that  con- 
structed by  Martin  Behaim  of  Nuremberg  in  the  year  in 
which  Columbus  made  his  first  momentous  voyage  across 
the  Atlantic.29  It  is  a  manuscript  globe,  that  is,  a  ball  cov- 
ered with  irregular  strips  of  parchment  on  which  the  world 
map  has  been  drawn  by  hand  and  elaborately  colored.  In 
the  first  decades  of  the  sixteenth  century,  numerous  globes 
were  made  either  of  copper  on  which  the  map  was  engraved, 
of  wood,  or  of  a  composition  on  which  an  engraved  or  hand 
drawn  map  was  pasted.  Some  of  these  globe  maps,  as  for 
example  that  attributed  to  Martin  Waldseemiiller  and 
supposed  to  have  been  drawn  in  the  first  decade  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  hence  the  oldest  known  of  this  character, 
were  engraved  and  printed  on  gores  or  bi-angles,  and  were 
so  fashioned  mathematically  that  they  would  completely 
cover  a  ball  when  pasted  over  its  surface,30  but  not  until 
Mercator,  in  1541,  engraved  and  printed  his  famous  globe 
gore  map  can  such  a  method  be  said  to  have  proved  itself  to 

2»  Ravenstein,  E.  G.  Martin  Behaim;  Prof.  Franz  V.  The  Oldest  Map  with 

his  life  and  his  globe.  London,  George  the  name  America  of  the  year  1507 

Philip  $  Son,  Ltd.,  1908.  Contains  a  and  'the  Carta  Marina  of  the  year  1516 

facsimile  of  the  globe  printed  on  four  by  M.  Waldseemiiller  (Ilacomilus) , 

sheets.  Innsbruck,  1903.  See  p.  14. 

so  Fischer,  Jos.   S.  J.   and  Wieser, 

44 


i 


be  thoroughly  practical.  From  this  time  on,  with  now  and 
then  a  slight  modification  of  the  number  of  gores  employed 
and  of  the  method  of  fitting  them  on  the  ball  near  the  poles, 
globes  have  been  constructed  in  much  the  same  manner  as 
Mercator  had  constructed  his  first  example.  That  he  made 
many  globes  is  very  certain,  yet  it  appears  that  all  of  these 
were  long  thought  to  have  been  destroyed,  until  about  forty 
years  ago,  when  a  complete  set  of  his  gores  was  found,  and 
at  present  no  less  than  six  others,  either  mounted  or  un- 
mounted, can  be  located.31  In  1551,  Mercator  prepared  in 
the  same  manner  a  celestial  globe  map,  all  examples  of 
which  likewise  had  been  thought  to  have  disappeared  until 
the  discovery  of  the  set  referred  to  above,  and  of  this  globe 
a  number  of  copies  are  now  known  to  exist. 

Quite  as  successful  as  Mercator  were  the  van  Langrens, 
father  and  son,  the  first  globe  of  the  father  dating  as  early 
as  1585.32  Before  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
Jodocus  Hondius  became  interested  in  the  construction  of 
globes,  and,  like  the  van  Langrens,  continued  his  work  in 
the  first  decade  of  the  following  century,  his  workshop  then 
falling  into  the  hands  of  his  sons,  who  for  many  years 
found  the  manufacture  of  globes  to  be  a  profitable  busi- 
ness.33 

Blaeu,  as  before  stated,  must  have  obtained  much  of  his 
early  knowledge  of  map  and  of  globe  construction  while  a 
pupil  of  Tycho  at  the  Castle  of  Uranienburg,  for  it  was 
not  long  after  his  return  to  Amsterdam  that  we  find  him 
actively  engaged  in  this  work,  perhaps  in  his  own  work- 
si  Van  Raemdonck,  D.  J.  Les  fuseaux  originaux,  graves  par  Merca- 
spheres  terrestre  et  celeste  de  Gerard  tor  et  conserves  a  la  Bibliotheque  Roy- 
Mercator  [1541-1551].  Notice  publics  ale  a  Bruxelles.  Saint-Nicolas,  1875. 
a  I'occasion  de  la  reproduction  de  ses  32  Fiorini,  op.  cit.,  pp.  192-199. 

spheres  a  I'aide  de  facsimile  de  leurs  33  Fiorini,  op.  cit.,  pp.  262-272. 

45 


shop.34  His  first  globe  is  dated  1599.  The  world  map 
here  represented  is,  so  far  as  we  have  definite  knowledge, 
his  first  cartographical  publication,  and  in  many  of  its 
features  it  gives  evidence  that  Mercator  was  the  master 
followed,  notably  in  the  representation  of  the  loxodrome 
lines  which  radiate  from  the  wind  or  compass  roses,  or  from 
the  centers  regularly  placed  on  the  surface  of  the  globe.  It 
has  a  diameter  of  34  cm.,  which  is  less  than  that  of  Mer- 
cator's  globe  of  1541  but  greater  than  that  of  van  Langren 
of  1585.  The  gores,  twelve  in  number,  have  been  cut  seven 
degrees  from  each  pole,  the  polar  space  being  covered  with 
a  circular  disc.  Blaeu,  as  many  other  globe  makers  of  his 
period,  found  that  by  thus  dividing  the  engraved  globe 
maps  a  more  nearly  perfect  covering  for  the  ball  could  be 
obtained.  Meridians  and  parallels  are  drawn  at  intervals 
of  ten  degrees,  the  prime  meridian  crossing  the  island  of 
Santa  Maria  in  the  Azores  group.  In  conspicuously  placed 
legends  he  presents  his  address  to  the  reader,  that  is,  to  the 
one  who  may  have  occasion  to  make  use  of  his  globe,  a 
dedication  to  the  United  Provinces  of  the  Netherlands, 
which,  like  the  first,  is  signed  Guilielmus  Janssonius  Alcma- 
riensis,  and  in  separate  inscriptions  he  calls  attention  to  the 
great  discoveries  and  explorations  as,  for  example,  those 
of  Christopher  Columbus,  of  Amerigo  Vespucci,  of  Ferdi- 
nand Magellan,  of  Caspar  Cortereal,  and  of  the  Dutch 
navigators,  with  a  brief  mention  of  others.  All  legends  are 
in  Latin  except  those  referring  to  the  discoveries  of  his 
own  countrymen  in  the  far  north,  in  which  he  has  employed 
the  Dutch  language. 

As  in  the  issue  of  his  sheet  maps,  Blaeu  was  not  always 
careful  to  add  an  exact  date,  in  the  majority  of  instances 

a*  Fiorini,  op.  cit.,  pp. 

46 


omitting  the  date  altogether,  so  in  the  issue  of  his  globes  he 
either  omitted  the  date  or  frequently  gave  one  later  than 
was  that  of  the  original  issue.  His  geographical  records 
serve  us,  however,  as  very  accurate  guides  in  the  determina- 
tion of  dates,  and  what  was  so  frequently  true  of  the  globes 
he  constructed  in  the  last  years  of  his  life  was  true  of  this, 
his  first.  We  have,  for  example,  one  fine  copy  of  his  work, 
bearing  date  1599,  which  contains  geographical  records  of 
1616,  indicating,  therefore,  a  late  reprint  with  a  few  altera- 
tions. 

Three  years  later,  that  is,  in  1602,  Blaeu  issued  a  terres- 
trial and  a  celestial  globe,  each  having  a  diameter  of  23  cm. 
He  refers  to  his  terrestrial  globe  as  an  improvement  upon 
that  of  1599,  referring  doubtless  to  its  geographical  details 
and  not  to  its  size.  He  dedicates  his  work  to  the  three 
provinces,  Holland,  Zeeland  and  West  Friesland,  calls 
especial  attention  to  the  recent  expedition  of  Olivier  van 
der  Noort,  the  course  of  whose  expedition  around  the  world 
he  lays  down  on  his  map,  and  signs  himself  Guilielmo  Jan- 
sonio  Blaeu,  substituting  his  family  name  for  the  name  of 
his  birthplace.  On  his  celestial  globe  of  1602  he  located 
the  stars  in  accord  with  the  reckoning  of  the  year  1600, 
making  use,  as  he  states,  of  the  observations  of  his  friend 
and  teacher,  Tycho  Brahe,  but  for  the  southern  constella- 
tions the  observations  of  the  explorer  Fredrik  Houtman.35 
By  reason  of  the  fact  that  so  few  copies  of  these  globes  of 
1602  are  known  to  exist,  it  has  been  thought  that  for  some 
reason  Blaeu  issued  a  very  limited  number.  We  know, 
however,  that  his  terrestrial  globes  were  highly  valued  and 
much  in  demand,  because  of  the  care  with  which  they  had 

ss  Fredrik     Houtman,     astronomer       Cornelius  Houtman  to  the  East  Indies 
and  navigator,  sailed  with  his  brother       in  the  years  1599  and  1600. 

47 


been  prepared,  because  of  his  effort  to  give  information 
concerning  the  latest  discoveries,  and  because  of  his  repre- 
sentation of  the  loxodrome  lines  which  made  them  of  spe- 
cial service  to  navigators;  that  his  celestial  globes  found 
favor  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  he  was  known  to  be  a  pupil 
and  friend  of  Tycho  Brahe ;  and  that  he  himself  was  known 
to  be  a  mathematician  and  astronomer  of  distinction. 

In  1603,  he  undertook  the  preparation  of  a  celestial 
globe  to  be  considered  a  companion  of  his  first  globe  of 
1599.  From  the  observations  of  Brahe  and  of  Houtman 
he  tells  us  as  in  his  work  of  the  preceding  year,  that  he  de- 
rived many  of  his  details,  and  he  honors  the  former  by 
giving  his  portrait  a  conspicuous  position  in  his  map, 
adding  his  master's  favorite  motto:  "Non  haberi,  sed  esse." 

The  Hispanic  Society  of  America  possesses  a  fine  exam- 
ple of  Blaeu's  early  globe  work.  It  is  small  in  size,  having 
a  diameter  of  13  cm.,  and  is  well  preserved.  Near  the  upper 
part  of  North  America  is  the  legend  inscribed  in  a  neat 
cartouche,  "NOVA  et  accurara  Terra  mariscg  Sphera, 
denuo  recognita  et,  correcta  a  Guilielmo  Blaeu,"  and  in  a 
second  legend  placed  to  the  south  of  "Nova  Guinea,"  which 
is  represented  as  a  part  of  the  great  south  polar  continent 
of  "Magallanica,"  he  inscribes  his  name  with  date,  "Gui- 
lielmus  Blaeu  Anno  D.  1606."  There  may  likewise  be 
found  in  this  Society's  rich  collections  a  terrestrial  and  a 
celestial  globe  by  Blaeu  which  clearly  are  companion  pieces 
and  which  appear  to  be  unique,  the  latter  dated  1616,  the 
former  undated.36  These  globes  have  a  diameter  of  but 

36  Baudet  quotes  an  interesting  res-  deelen  des   aertsbodens,  die  tot  dese 

olution  of  the  States  General,  dated  tyden  toe   ontdeckt  ende  bekent   ge- 

December    10,    1616:    "Opte    requeste  maect  syn,  mitsgaders  eene  hemelsche 

van    Willem    Jansz.,    haere    Ho.    Mo.  sphera  van  gelyche  groote,  is  den  sup- 

gedediceert  hebbende  eenen  aertscloot  pliant  voor  deselve  dedicatie  toegeleet 

van  grooter  formen,  inhoudende  die  vyftich  guldens  eens."    See  p.  156. 

48 


10  cm.,  a  substantial  and  artistic  mounting  of  brass,  in- 
cluding meridian  circle,  horizon  circle,  four  twisted  sup- 
port columns  and  a  circular  base  plate.  In  geographical 
and  astronomical  details  they  are  remarkably  full,  a  fact 
especially  noteworthy  when  their  size  is  taken  into  con- 
sideration. The  first  he  designates  as  "NOVA  ORBIS 
TERRARVM  DESCRIPTIO"  and  adds  to  this  merely 
the  name  "Blaeu" ;  the  second  he  calls  a  "Sphaera  stellata," 
and  in  a  legend  he  honors  his  teacher  Tycho  Brahe  by  mak- 
ing special  mention  of  his  name,  signing  himself  "Guiliel- 
mus  Blaeu  Auctor  excudit  1616."  Fiorini  refers  to  a  Blaeu 
celestial  globe  in  the  Barberini  Palace  at  Rome  dated  1616, 
but  his  description  of  the  same  shows  conclusively  that  it  is 
very  different  from  the  one  referred  to  above,  and  he  ap- 
pears to  consider  its  map  a  print  of  later  date,  though  per- 
haps in  its  main  features  it  was  originally  engraved  in  the 
year  designated. 

The  next  dated  and  signed  globes  of  Blaeu  appear  to 
be  of  the  year  1622,  numerous  copies  of  which  the  author 
has  been  able  to  locate,  but  in  which,  however,  slight  varia- 
tions appear.  From  this  time  until  his  death  in  the  year 
1638,  our  globe  maker  seems  to  have  applied  himself  most 
diligently  to  this  work,  the  globes  of  his  later  years  being 
much  larger  than  were  those  of  his  early  years.  This  So- 
ciety possesses  a  well  preserved  example  of  his  1622  ter- 
restrial globe  which  has  a  diameter  of  69  cm.  Its  map 
gives  us  excellent  proof  of  Blaeu's  superior  merit  in  this 
field.  Its  geographical  details  are  most  numerous,  making 
it  an  object  of  great  scientific  value.  Among  the  records 
of  special  interest,  omitting  for  obvious  reasons  at  this  time 
any  extended  reference  to  the  work,  is  the  representation 

49 


of  Manhattan  as  an  island,  apparently  the  earliest  on  a 
dated  map. 

Vossius  tells  us  that  in  addition  to  terrestrial  and 
celestial  globes,  Blaeu  also  made  a  planetarium  and  a 
tellurium.  In  the  first,  the  sun  is  placed  in  the  center  of  the 
system,  about  which  revolve  Venus,  the  Earth  and  the 
Moon,  Mars  and  Jupiter.  The  second  represents  the  dou- 
ble motion  of  the  Earth,  that  is,  its  daily  rotation  and  its 
annual  revolution.  He  remarks  that  nothing  like  it  has  been 
seen  since  the  time  of  Archimedes.  Blaeu  himself  refers 
to  these  instruments  in  his  work  first  issued  probably  in 
1620  with  the  title,  "Tweevoudigh  onderwys  van  de 
Hemelsche  en  Aerdsche  Globen,"  as  of  value  for  the  study 
of  cosmography.  In  connection  with  his  description  of 
them,  he  interestingly  observes  that  the  celestial  heavens 
are  at  least  20,000  times  greater  in  diameter  than  is  the 
circle  of  the  terrestrial  globe's  course,  and  this  in  his  plane- 
tarium is  2^/2  inches.  He  adds  that  the  diameter  of  the 
terrestrial  globe's  course  is  1142  times  the  celestial  globe's 
diameter. 

A  very  considerable  number  of  his  globes,  doubtless  con- 
structed subsequent  to  1622,  can  now  be  located,  though  at 
the  time  of  writing  his  biography  in  1872,  Baudet  could 
find  trace  of  but  five  or  six,  including  those  of  earlier  date. 
In  a  searching  study  of  the  history  of  early  globes,  it  may 
here  be  stated  that  the  author  of  this  monograph  has  now 
been  able  to  locate  no  less  than  sixty  Blaeu  globes. 


50 


WORLD  MAP  OF  1605 


AMONG  the  treasures  of  The  Hispanic  Society  of  America 
may  be  found  a  unique  copy  of  Willem  Janszoon  Blaeu's 
engraved  World  Map  in  two  large  hemispheres,  issued  in 
the  year  1605.  Stretching  across  its  upper  border  is  the 
title,  "NOVA  UNIVERSI  TERRARUM  ORBIS 
MAPPA  EX  OPTIMIS  QUIBUSQUE  GEOGRA- 

PHICIS  HYDROGRAPHICISQ}  TABULIS  SUMMA  INDUSTRIA  AO 
CURATISSIME  DELINEATA,  DUOBUS  PLANISPHERIIS  GRAPHICE 

DEPICTA  A  GULIEL  jANSSONio  ALOMAR,"  a  title  which  in 
its  special  arrangement  and  in  the  form  of  its  letters  strik- 
ingly recalls  the  World  Map  of  Jodocus  Hondius  of  the 
year  1611,  which,  with  Professor  Joseph  Fischer,  the  editor 
of  this  World  Map  of  Blaeu  recently  issued  in  facsimile.37 
Here  is  a  second  fine  example  of  Holland's  contribution  to 
the  cartography  of  a  period  particularly  rich  in  this  field  of 
geography.  Mounted  on  the  coarse  linen  so  frequently 
used  for  such  purposes  at  that  early  day,  and  attached  to  a 
rough  wooden  frame,  it  is  not  a  little  surprising  that  it 
should  have  come  down  to  us  through  these  many  years. 
The  old  mounting  has  not  been  disturbed  for  this  reproduc- 

37  Stevenson,  Edward  Luther,  Ph.D.,  plate,  issued  under  the  joint  auspices 
and  Fischer,  Joseph,  S.  J.  Map  of  the  of  The  American  Geographical  So- 
World  by  Jodocus  Hondius,  Facsimile  ciety  and  The  Hispanic  Society  of 
in  eighteen  sheets  with  text  and  key  America,  New  York,  1907. 

51 


tion,  and  with  all  of  its  suggestions  of  age,  it  hangs  on  the 
walls  of  The  Hispanic  Society's  Museum  amidst  other  rich 
cartographical  material  of  the  period. 

No  reference  to  this  great  work  of  Blaeu  appears  in  the 
literature  of  cartography,  and  it  seems  probable  that  we 
have  here  the  only  copy  extant.  In  the  records  of  the 
States  General  of  Amsterdam  may  be  found,  however,  the 
entry,  "23  April  1605.  Is  W.  Jansz.  [Blaeu]  van  Alc- 
maer,  ende  Herman  Alartsz,  die  de  heren  Staten  gepresen- 
teert  hebben  een  grote  Werelts  Caerte,  voor  een  gratuiteyt 
toegelegt  25  gl.,"  and  of  the  same  date,  "Id.  Is  W.  Jz.  van 
Alcmaer,  wonende  te  Amsterdam,  geaccordeert  octroy, 
voor  den  tyt  van  6  jaren  etc.  te  mogen  doen  drukken  ende 
vuyt  geven  een  groote  mappam  mundi  in  twee  ronden,  by 
hem  yerst  uitgegeven."  These  passages  are  cited  by  Bau- 
det  in  his  "Leven  en  werken  van  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeu" 
without  comment  other  than  a  very  brief  word  which  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  the  author  had  no  definite  knowledge 
of  the  map  or  maps  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the  above 
record.38  It  is  altogether  probable  that  we  have  in  these 
entries  a  reference  to  this  particular  map. 

Curiously  and  somewhat  vexatiously,  one  finds  in  the 
reference  to  the  copyright  privilege,  granted  by  the  au- 
thorities, appearing  on  sheet  thirteen,  the  date  "23  April 

,"  the  numbers  designating  the  year  wanting  because 

of  the  injured  condition  of  the  map.  Some  wonder  is  oc- 
casioned by  the  appearance  of  the  French  lilies  in  the 
elaborately  engraved  cartouche  on  sheets  thirteen  and  four- 
teen, and  by  the  dedication  to  Henry  IV  of  France,  which 
reads,  "Serenissimo  Christianissimo  ac  potentissimo  D.  D. 
Henrico  IIII  Franciae  et  Navarre  Regi.  Domino  suo  .  .  . 

ss  See  note,  p.  39. 

52 


I 


entissimo  hanc  Universi  orbis  terrarum  Mappam  I.  M.  Q. 
dat  di .  .  .  dedicat."  Close  examination,  however,  discloses 
the  fact  that  both  the  lilies  and  the  dedication  were  skilfully 
pasted  on  the  map  after  its  completion,  though  by  whom 
and  on  what  particular  occasion  remain  matters  of  conjec- 
ture. The  attachment  of  the  coat  of  arms  and  the  dedica- 
tion must  have  occurred  before  1610,  the  date  of  King 
Henry's  death,  and  the  fact  serves  at  least  to  fix  the  time 
when  the  map  was  engraved  as  prior  to  that  year,  or  in  all 
probability  in  1605. 

The  map  is  244  x  134  cm.  in  size,  including  the  border. 
The  two  large  hemispheres,  each  116  cm.  in  diameter,  pre- 
sent the  world,  as  then  known,  in  stereographic  projection. 
An  ornamental  border  surrounds  it,  and  all  available  space 
outside  the  great  hemispheres  and  within  this  border  is  filled 
with  pictures  of  cities,  rulers  in  martial  array,  representa- 
tions of  the  typical  races  of  men,  while  in  the  angles  formed 
at  the  top  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  map,  between  the  two 
hemispheres,  appear  the  north  and  the  south  celestial  hemi- 
spheres, each  26  cm.  in  diameter. 

The  map  is  not  well  preserved,  a  fact  easily  recognized 
in  the  reproduction.  Certain  parts,  it  will  be  noted,  are 
entirely  wanting,  having  fallen  away  from  the  old  mount- 
ing, but  there  is  little  missing  that  is  of  the  first  importance 
excepting  the  northwest  section  of  South  America,  the 
western  Mediterranean  lands  and  portions  of  the  island 
region  southeast  of  Asia.  Though  many  of  the  names  are 
illegible  by  reason  of  discoloration,  it  was  thought  inad- 
visable to  attempt  the  cleaning  of  the  surface  on  account  of 
the  brittle  condition  of  the  old  paper.  The  eighteen  sheets 
in  the  facsimile,  corresponding  to  the  eighteen  sheets  of  the 
original,  together  with  the  key  plate  much  reduced  but 

53 


showing  the  entire  map,  have  been  printed  on  a  fine  quality 
of  Van  Gelder  hand-made  paper.  Care  has  been  exercised 
to  have  each  of  the  sheets  appear  in  the  reproduction  as  in 
the  original,  in  so  far  as  has  been  possible,  no  attempt  being 
made  to  remedy  defects. 

Blaeu's  map  may  be  considered  a  remarkably  excellent 
record  of  geographical  knowledge  to  date.  Most  of  his 
striking  errors  in  continental  outlines  are  the  common 
errors  of  the  day.  In  the  Old  World,  for  example,  Africa 
has  a  breadth  of  more  than  eighty  degrees,  and  the  east  coast 
of  Asia,  particularly  its  northern  half,  is  far  from  accurate, 
but  he  has  given  us  a  representation  of  the  extreme  north- 
east section  which  is  superior  to  that  laid  down  on  the  large 
world  map  of  his  fellow  countryman  Hondius.  The  latter 
clearly  suited  his  representation  to  a  belief  in  a  perfectly 
open  sea  route  to  China  and  the  distant  Orient,  showing  a 
great  breadth  of  sea  between  Asia  and  America  in  the  re- 
gion of  Bering  Strait,  while  Blaeu  has  here  a  fairly 
accurate  record  of  the  geographical  features  of  the  region, 
inserting  the  name  "Streto  de  Anian."  The  Mediterranean 
has  much  too  great  an  extension  in  longitude,  and  is  too 
narrow;  the  Caspian  Sea  and  the  Black  Sea  have  each  a 
strikingly  erroneous  representation  as  well  as  location. 
The  great  austral  continental  land  called  "Magallanica," 
in  the  New  World  hemisphere,  is  that  which  so  commonly 
appears  in  the  world  maps  of  the  day.  In  the  New 
World,  North  America  is  made  to  extend  through  more 
than  one  hundred  and  sixty  degrees  of  longitude,  while 
South  America  is  given  a  breadth  of  more  than  sixty  de- 
grees, and  its  general  outline  is  not  well  done,  though  there 
is  here  clearly  an  improvement  over  the  maps  of  Mercator 
and  of  Ortelius.  Blaeu  has  retained  the  erroneous  repre- 

54 


sentation  of  the  "Martin  Forbischers  Strata"  at  the  south- 
ern extremity  of  Greenland;  he  includes  "Frislandia" 
south  of  "Islandia";  "I  dos  Demonios"  east  of  "Terra  de 
Labrador";  "Brasil"  west  of  "Hibernia  al  Yrlandia,"  "As 
Mann"  to  the  southwest;  "S.  Brandan"  near  "C.  d.  Bre- 
ton." For  the  region  north  of  Europe  and  Asia,  the  map 
is  especially  interesting,  making  record  here  of  the  latest 
attempts  under  Willem  Barentszoen  and  other  less  distin- 
guished explorers  from  Holland  who  undertook  to  find  a 
northeast  passage  to  China  before  1605.  That  part  of 
"Nova  Zemla"  which  was  visited  is  laid  down,  as  are  also 
"Nieuland"  and  "Beeren  Eylandt,"  the  names  of  all  places 
designated  being  in  the  Dutch  language,  though  an  exten- 
sive legend  north  of  Nova  Zemla,  calling  attention  to  the 
efforts  of  his  countrymen  to  find  a  northeast  passage,  is 
given  in  Latin,  as  are  all  the  more  lengthy  legends.  A 
comparison  of  the  maps  of  Hondius  and  Blaeu  in  this  par- 
ticular region  is  interesting,  the  latter  preparing  his  map 
before  the  voyage  of  Henry  Hudson,  the  former  making 
record  of  Hudson's  attempt  to  sail  through  this  Arctic  sea 
and  noting  that  he  had  discovered  a  great  ice  barrier, 
"Glacies  ab  Hudsono  detect  anno  1608."  Finding  it  im- 
possible to  make  this  passage,  it  will  be  recalled  that  Hud- 
son decided  to  turn  his  expedition  to  the  west  and  the 
northwest,  reaching  in  due  course  of  sailing  the  east  coast 
of  North  America,  which  he  explored  in  his  two  voyages 
from  Hudson  River  to  Hudson  Bay,  losing  his  life  in  this 
great  northern  sea,  which  bears  his  name,  in  the  year  1611. 
Blaeu  has  inscribed  numerous  legends  in  the  northern  and 
northeastern  sections  of  North  America,  calling  attention 
in  one  of  these  to  the  expeditions  of  Columbus,  Vespucci, 
Cortereal  and  Verrazano,  in  another  to  the  expedition  of 

55 


Forbischer  in  1577,  and  in  yet  another  to  the  explorations 
of  Davis  in  1585,  1586,  1587.  Numerous  legends,  it  may 
here  be  noted,  appear  in  different  parts  of  the  map,  either 
descriptive  of  the  region  in  which  they  respectively  appear 
or  calling  attention  to  certain  astronomical  and  geograph- 
ical questions,  as,  for  example,  the  lengthy  legend  on  sheets 
fourteen-fifteen,  sheet  seventeen  and  sheet  eighteen.  In  a 
map  of  this  character  one  may  say  the  particular  scientific 
and  historical  value  lies  in  the  latest  records  it  contains 
relative  to  exploration  and  discovery.  Without  giving 
here  the  numerous  specific  references  to  such  events,  or  to 
their  results  as  they  relate  to  the  expansion  of  geograph- 
ical knowledge,  it  may  be  stated  that  Blaeu's  map  is  one 
of  the  richest  of  the  period.  His  geographical  names  in 
the  Old  World  alone  extend  into  the  thousands,  and  for  the 
New  World  those  both  of  coast  and  of  interior  are  exceed- 
ingly numerous. 

Blaeu  has  called  especial  attention  to  the  four  distin- 
guished explorers  who  prior  to  the  time  of  the  issue  of  his 
map  had  circumnavigated  the  globe,  placing  their  portraits 
in  an  elaborate  cartouche  south  of  South  America  and  call- 
ing attention  to  their  success  in  a  somewhat  elaborate  leg- 
end. The  four  represented  are  "Ferdinandus  Magallanes," 
"Franciscus  Dracus,"  "Thomas  Candish"  and  "Oliverus 
van  der  Nort,"  the  course  of  the  latter  being  conspicuously 
traced  on  the  map,  his  circumnavigation  at  this  time  at- 
tracting considerable  attention,  particularly  in  the  Nether- 
lands. The  artistic  adornment  of  Blaeu's  map  is  not  its 
least  attractive  feature.  Its  elaborate  border,  so  much  of 
it  at  least  as  remains,  there  being  evidence  that  at  both  top 
and  bottom  much  has  been  cut  away,  alone  gives  it  almost 
first  place  among  the  fine  examples  of  copper  engraving 

56 


of  the  period.  On  the  right  and  the  left  we  find  represen- 
tations of  "London,"  "Hamburgh,"  "Mexico,"  "Cusco," 
"Dantzik,"  "Moskow,"  "Bergen,"  "Stockholm,"  alter- 
nating with  representations  of  typical  people  of  the  earth, 
such  as  "Greenland!,"  "Chilienses  et  Peruvian!,"  "Brasi- 
lienses,"  "Moscovitae,"  "Chinenses  et  Japonenses."  The 
"Rex  Hispania,"  "Imperator  Romanorum,"  "Imperator 
Turcarum"  and  "Rex  Chinarum"  appear  in  martial  array 
and  are  given  places  of  special  prominence  near  the  top  of 
the  map,  while  the  "Rex  Abissinorum,"  "Rex  Persearum," 
"Magnus  Cham  Tartarorum"  and  "Magnus  Dux  Mosco- 
viae"  command  in  corresponding  positions  at  the  bottom. 
In  his  representations  of  the  celestial  hemispheres  he  gives 
special  credit  to  Tycho  Brahe  and  to  Frederik  Houtman 
for  his  information.  Parallels  and  meridians  are  drawn  at 
intervals  of  ten  degrees,  the  prime  meridian  passing 
through  the  islands  of  "S.  Michiel"  and  "S.  Maria."  Com- 
pass roses  are  numerous,  two  of  these  being  especially  con- 
spicuous by  reason  of  the  fact  that  with  them  appear  the 
Dutch  names  of  the  thirty-two  compass  points  or  directions, 
and  the  radiating  lines  serve  as  loxodrome  lines.  No  less 
than  thirty  ships  are  represented  sailing  the  oceans  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  carrying  either  the  pennant  of  Spain, 
of  Portugal,  of  Holland  or  of  England.  A  few  of  these 
are  curiously  interesting,  there  having  been  an  attempt  to 
fashion  them  after  the  manner  of  the  countries  to  which 
they  belong,  as,  for  example,  a  Japanese  vessel  off  the  coast 
of  Japan,  "Navis  qua  Japonenses  utuntur  quae  illis  Cham- 
pan  dicitur,"  and  an  open  boat  in  the  Pacific  near  the  Strait 
of  Magellan,  "Huiusmodi  navicularunt  forma  freti  magel- 
laniei  accolis  in  usu  est."  Sea  monsters  are  numerous,  and 
Neptune  is  represented  in  certain  parts  carrying  either  a 

57 


trident,  a  pennant  of  Spain  or  one  of  Portugal.  Blaeu  has 
not  omitted  the  representation  of  numerous  land  animals 
thought  to  be  native  to  the  regions  in  which  they  appear,  as 
in  Africa  the  lion,  the  tiger,  the  elephant,  the  camel,  the 
ostrich,  the  crocodile;  in  South  America  the  llama,  the 
alpaca,  the  monkey,  the  armadillo,  the  parrot;  in  North 
America  the  bison,  the  opossum  which  is  curiously  fash- 
ioned, the  fox  and  the  bear. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  striking  similarity  in 
arrangement  and  style  of  the  descriptive  titles  of  the 
Blaeu  and  the  Hondius  large  World  Maps.  This  simi- 
larity is  further  traceable  literally  in  hundreds  of  de- 
tails, forcing  upon  us  the  suggestion  that  Hondius 
borrowed  extensively  from  Blaeu,  since  the  map  of 
the  latter  is  of  the  earlier  date.  To  but  a  few  of  the  more 
striking  evidences  of  borrowing,  however,  can  attention 
here  be  directed.  The  fact  is  exceedingly  interesting 
that  many  of  the  objects  otherwise  similarly  drawn 
are  reversed  in  position  as  represented  on  the  maps.  Blaeu 
turns  the  faces  of  his  portraits  of  Magellan  and  Drake  to 
their  left,  of  Van  der  Noort  and  Candysch  to  their  right; 
Hondius  has  reversed  the  position.  Most  of  Blaeu's  ships 
sail  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  in  which  the  ships  of 
Hondius  are  made  to  sail,  the  location  of  the  several  ships 
being,  however,  practically  the  same  on  the  two  maps ;  the 
most  ornamental  compass  roses  are  placed  in  identically 
the  same  positions;  the  dedications  of  the  maps  and  the 
addresses  to  the  reader  are  similarly  placed  in  ornamental 
cartouches,  which,  however,  in  the  details  of  their  decora- 
tions differ  slightly;  each  has  a  somewhat  elaborate  repre- 
sentation of  the  cannibals  in  eastern  South  America,  but  in 
their  details  the  pictures  are  reversed.  The  line  of  the  eclip- 

58 


tic  passes  south  of  the  equator  in  the  western  hemisphere, 
and  northward  in  the  eastern  hemisphere  on  the  Blaeu  map, 
and  this  Hondius  has  reversed ;  the  position  of  Blaeu's  grif- 
fin and  tiger  in  the  heart  of  Africa  has  been  reversed  by 
Hondius.  Not  to  extend  such  comparisons  further,  it  may 
be  stated  that  a  study  of  the  two  maps  with  these  similari- 
ties, even  in  minute  details  in  view,  can  not  fail  to  interest. 
May  there  not,  therefore,  have  been  good  reason  for 
Blaeu's  complaint  expressed  to  the  States  General  in  1608? 
In  this,  as  before  stated,  he  prayed  for  protection  against 
those  who  were  taking  from  his  work  without  credit. 


[PRINTER'S  MARK  OF  THE  BLAEU  PRESS] 


59 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


AA,  ABRAHAM  JACOB  VAN  DER.  Biographische  woordenboek  der  Ne- 
derlanden.  Haarlem,  1853.  Vol.  II,  pp.  578-580. 

ANONYMOUS.  W.  J.  Blaeu's  Antheil  an  der  Bestimmung  der  Erdlan- 
gen.  (Das  Ausland.  November,  1875.  Stuttgart,  1875.  Vol. 
XLVIII,  No.  44,  pp.  865-867.) 

ANONYMOUS.     A  Bibliographical  Curiosity.      (Chambers's  Edinburgh 
Journal.     New  Series.    May  31,  1851.     Edinburgh,  W.  &  R.  Cham- 
bers, 1851.    Vol.  XV,  pp.  374-376.) 
Notice  of  Blaeu's  Atlas,  12  vols.,  1667. 

BARENTSZOEN,  Wi.  Nieuwe  beschryvinghe  ende  Caertboeck  vande 
Midlandtsche  Zee  waerin  meercklick  afgebeeld  en  beschreven  worden 
alle  custen  vande  Midlandsche  Zee  .  .  .  W.  B.  Amst.,  Corn.  Claesz 
.  .  .  1595. 

BAUDET,  P.  J.  H.    Leven  en  werken  van  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeu.    Uitge- 
geven  door  het   Provincial  Utrechtsch  genootschap  van  kunsten  en 
wetenschappen.    XIII,  178  pp.    Utrecht,  C.  van  der  Post,  Jr.,  1871. 
-  Naschrift,  30  pp.     1872. 

BAUDET,  P.  J.  H.  Notice  sur  la  part  prise  par  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeu 
(1571—1638)  dans  la  determination  des  longitudes  terrestres. 
Utrecht,  K.  A.  Manssen,  1875. 

BAUMGARTEN,  JOHANNES.  Zwei  alte  Globen  von  Blaeu.  Erdkugel  von 
1599  und  Himmel-Globis  von  1603.  (Das  Ausland,  13.  April,  1885. 
Stuttgart,  1885.  No.  15,  pp.  299-300.) 

61 


CLEMENT,  DAVID.  (Bibliotheque  Curieuse.  Gottingen,  1750-1760. 
Vol.  IV,  pp.  267-276.) 

A  bibliography  of  the  Blaeu  Atlases. 

Dozy,  CHARLES  M.  Willem  Janszoon  Blaeu.  (Tijdschrift  van  het 
Nederlandsch  aardrijkskundig  genootschap,  gevestigt  te  Amsterdam 
1887.  2de  Serie.  Amsterdam,  C.  L.  Brinkman,  1887.  Vol.  IV,  pp. 
206-215.) 

FIORINI,  MATTEO.  Sfere  terrestri  e  celesti  di  autore  italiano  oppure 
fatte  o  conservate  in  Italia.  Roma,  Presso  la  Societa  Geografica  Ita- 
liana,  1898. 

See  especially  pp.  229-262,  for  a  reference  to  the  globes  of  Blaeu. 

FOPPENS,  J.  F.    Biblioteca  Belgica.    Brux.,  1680.    Vol.  I,  p.  582. 

GENARD,  PIERRE  MARIE  NICOLAS  JEAN.  Les  globes  de  Guillaume 
Blaeu.  (Societe  Geographic  d'Anvers.  Bulletin.  1883-84.  Anvers, 
1883.  Tom.  VIII,  pp.  159-160.) 

HUES,  ROBERT.     Tractatus  de  Globis.    Londinum,  1594. 

JONGE,  DE,  J.  K.  J.  De  opkomst  van  het  Nederlandsch  gezag  in  Oost- 
Indie.  Verzameling  van  onuitgeg.  stukken  in  het  Oud-koloniale 
archief.  Met  Register  I-XIII.  Gravenhage,  1862-1909-  16  vols. 

KASTNER,  A.  G.  Geschichte  der  Mathematik  seit  der  Wiederherstel- 
lung  der  Wissenschaften  bis  an  das  Ende  des  achtzehnten  Jahrhun- 
derts.  Gottingen,  1796.  2  vols. 

LOWENBERG.  Allgemeine  deutsche  Biographic.  Leipzig,  1875.  Vol. 
II,  pp.  686-688. 

LOWERY,  WOODBURY.     Descriptive  List  of  Maps  of  Spanish  Posses- 
sions in  the  United  States,  1502-1820.     Edited  by  Philip  Lee  Phil- 
lips.    Washington,  Government  Printing  Office,  1912. 
See  pp.  133-135  for  valuable  bibliographical  references. 

MAXWELL,  SIR  HERBERT  EUSTACE.     Rainy  Days  in  a  Library.     New 
York,  F.  P.  Harper,  1896,  pp.  123-129. 
A  reference  to  Blaeu's  Atlas,  12  vols.,  ed.  1667. 

62 


MERCATOR,  GER.  Atlas  sive  cosmographicae  meditationes  de  fabrica 
mundi  et  fabricati  figura  .  .  .  Duisburgi  Cliviorum,  1595. 

We  are  informed  on  the  title-page  that  the  first  and  second  parts  appeared 
in  1585  or  158G,  the  third  in  1589,  and  the  fourth  in  1595. 

MOXON,  J.  (i.e.,  W.  BLAEU.)  A  Tutor  to  Astronomy  and  Geography, 
or  the  use  of  the  Copernican  Spheres.  London,  1665. 

ORTELIUS,  A.    Theatrum  Orbis  Terrarum.    Antverpiae,  1570. 

PHILLIPS,  PHILIP  LEE.  List  of  Geographical  Atlases  in  the  Library 
of  Congress,  with  bibliographical  notes.  Compiled  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Philip  Lee  Phillips.  Washington,  Government  Printing  Office, 
1909.  Vol.  I,  pp.  196-197. 

See,   for   a  list   of   Blaeu's   Atlases,  taken   from   Tiele:   Niederlandsche 
Bibliographic,  1884. 

PICARD,  M.  Voyage  d'Uranibourg,  ou  observations  astronomiques 
faites  en  Dannemarck.  (Mem.  de  1'Acad.  Royale  des  Sciences  de 
Paris  depuis  1666  j usque  a  1699,  torn.  VII.) 

RAEMDONCK,  J.  VAN.  Gerard  Mercator,  sa  vie  et  ses  oeuvres.  St. 
Nicholas,  1869. 

STEVENSON,  EDWARD  LUTHER,  PH.D.,  and  FISCHER,  JOSEPH,  S.J. 
Map  of  the  World  by  Jodocus  Hondius.  Facsimile  in  eighteen  sheets 
with  text  and  key  plate,  issued  under  the  joint  auspices  of  The  Amer- 
ican Geographical  Society  and  The  Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
New  York,  1907. 

STOWER,  C.     The  Printer's  Grammar.     London,  1808,  pp.  303-304. 

"T."  Erste  uitgave  van  Blaeu's  Licht  der  Zeevaert.  (Bibliogra- 
phische  Adversaria.  Gravenhage,  M.  Nijhoff,  1883-86.  Vol.  V, 
pp.  293-295.) 

TIELE,  PIETER  ANTON.  Leven  en  werken  van  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeu, 
door  P.  J.  Baudet  .  .  .  1871.  (De  Gids.  1872.  Amsterdam,  P.  N. 
Van  Kampen,  1872.  Derde  Serie,  Vol.  I,  pp.  356-367.) 

TIELE,  PIETER  ANTON.  Nederlandsche  Bibliographic  van  Land-  en 
Volkenkunde.  Amsterdam,  1884. 

See  for  bibliography  of  works  of  Blaeu,  Mercator,  Ortelius,  et  al. 

63 


UFFENBACH,  VON,  ZACHARIAS  CONRAD.  Merkwiirdige  Reisen  durch 
Nieder-Sachsen,  Holland  und  Engelland.  Ulm,  1753.  Vol.  Ill, 
p.  600  et  seq. 

Vossius,  G.  J.     De  Scientiis  mathematicis.     1660.     Pp.  199,  263. 
Quoted  by  Baudet. 

WAGHENAER,  LUCAS  JANSZ.  Spieghel  der  Zeevaerdt  van  de  navigatie 
der  Westersche  Zee.  Leyden,  1584. 

WAGHENAER,  LUCAS  JANSZ.  Spieghel  der  Zeevaert  inhoudende  de 
geheele  Noordtsche  ende  Oostersche  Scheepvaert.  Leyden,  1585. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  BLAEU'S  PRINCIPAL 
GEOGRAPHICAL  PUBLICATIONS 


Nova  Universi  Terrarum  Orbis  Mappa  ex  Optimis  Quibusque  Geogra- 
phicis  hydrographicisqj  Tabulis  Summa  Industria  Accuratissime 
Delineata  et  Duobus  Planisphaeriis  Graphice  Depicta  a  Guliel 
Janssonio  Alcmar.  Amsterdam,  1605. 

It  is  this  unique  map  which  has  been  here  reproduced. 

Nieuw  graetbouck,  nae  den  ouden  styl  vuyt  de  aldercorrecste  obser- 
vaten  van  den  vermaerden  astronomo  Tycho  Brahe,  gecalculeert  ende 
gestelt  op  ten  meridiaen  deser  Nederlanden. 

Baudet  finds  that,  from  the  octroi  or  patent,  this  was  probably  issued  in 
1605.  There  does  not  appear  to  be  a  copy  of  this  work  extant. 

Le  Flambeau  de  la  navigation,  monstrant  la  description  et  delineation 
de  toutes  les  costes  et  havres  de  la  Mer  Occidentale,  Septentrionale 
et  Orientale  .  .  .  Par  Guilliaume  Janszoon.  Amst.,  Guill.  Jansz  .  .  . 
1619- 

Het  Licht  der  Zee-vaert  daerinne  claerlijck  beschreven  ende  auf- 
ghebeeldet  werden  alle  de  custen  ende  havenen  vande  Westersche, 
Noordsche,  Oostersche  ende  Middelandsche  Zeen.  .  .  .  Door  Willem 
Janszoon.  Amst.,  ghedr.  bij  Willem  Janszoon  .  .  .  1620. 

Baudet  finds  that  the  first  and  second  volumes  of  this  work  must  have 
been  issued  first  in  1608,  there  being  a  reference  to  the  same  in  a  resolu- 
tion of  the  States  General  of  that  year. 

Tweevoudigh  onderwys  van  de  Hemelsche  en  Aerdsche  Globen;  Het 
een  na  de  meyning  van  Ptolemeus  met  een  vasten  Aerdkloot;  het 

65 


ander  Na  de  natuerlycke  stalling  van  N.  Copernicus  met  een  loopen- 
den  Aerdkloot.  Beschreven  door  Willem  Jz.  Blaeu.  En  gevoeght 
na  de  Globen  en  Sphaeren  by  hem  uytgeven. 

Date  of  original  issue  is  not  known;  between  1620  and  1669  there  were  five 

issues  in  Dutch,  five  in  Latin,  and  three  in  French. 

'T  Derde  deel  van  't  Licht  der  Zeevaert,  inhoudende  de  Beschryvinghe 
der  Zee  Custen  van  de  Middelandtsche  Zee.     Byeenvergaedert  ende 
in  't  licht  ghebracht  door  Willem  Janssen  tot  Amsterdam  by  Willem 
Jansz.  op't  Water  in  de  Vergulde  Sonnewyser  Anno  1621. 
Baudet  finds  that  the  first  issue  of  this  was  in  1618. 

Zeespiegel,  inhoudende  een  korte  onderwysinghe  in  de  konst  der  zee- 
vaert, en  beschryvinghe  der  seen  en  kusten  van  de  Oostersche,  Noord- 
sche  en  Westersche  schipvaert  .  .  .  door  Willem  Jansz.  Blaeuw  .  .  . 
Amsterdam,  W.  Jz.  Blaeuw  .  .  .  1623. 

Reissued  by  John  Blaeu,  corrected  and  enlarged,  in  1650. 

Tafelen  van  de  declinatie  der  Sonne,  ende  der  voornaemste  vaste 
sterren  Mitsgaders  van  't  verscheyden  gebruyck  der  Noordsterre 
Nieulycx,  alien  Zeevaerenden  ten  dienst,  ghecalculeert  door  Willem 
Jansz.  Blauw.  t'  Amsterdam.  By  Willem  Jansz.  Blauw  in  de  guide 
Sonnewyser  met  Privilegie  Anno  1625. 

Appendix  Theatri  A.  Ortelii  et  Atlantis  G.  Mercatoris  continens  tabu- 
las  geograph.  diversarum  orbis  regionum  nuiic.  prim,  editas  cum 
descriptionibus.  Amst.,  apud  Guilj.  Blaeuw,  1631. 

Het  nieuwe  Licht  der  zeevaert  ofte  havenwyser  van  de  Oostersche, 
Noordsche  en  Westersche  zeen.  Amst.,  W.  Jz.  Blaeu  .  .  .  1634. 

Toonneel  des  aerdrycx  ofte  nieuwe  Atlas,  dat  is  beschryving  van  all 
landen;  nu  nieulycx  uytgegeven  .  .  .  Amst.,  Guilj.  et  Joh.  B.,  1635. 
Two  parts,  with  third  part  added  in  1642.  June  24,  1634,  Blaeu  wrote  to 
his  friend  Schickard:  "I  have  published  the  first  part  of  my  atlas,  con- 
taining 160  maps,  with  the  description  in  German,  translated  from  the 
Latin.  Next  fall,  I  shall  publish  the  Latin,  French  and  Dutch  text." 

Theatrum  orbis  terrarum,  sive  Atlas  novus,  in  quo  tabulae  et  descrip- 
tiones  omnium  regionum  .  .  .  Amst.,  Guil.  et  Joa.  Blaeu,  1635.  2 
vols. 

66 


A  French  edition  was  issued  in  1638;  a  Latin,  Dutch,  French  and  German 
edition,  in  three  volumes,  in  1640;  a  Dutch  edition  in  1642;  a  fourth  vol- 
ume in  Latin,  Dutch,  French  and  German  in  1646;  a  six-volume  edition  in 
1649-1655. 

De  groote  Zee-spiegel.  inhoudende  een  korte  Onderswij  singe  in  de 
konst  der  zeevaert  en  eene  beschrijvinge  der  seekusten  van  de  Ooster- 
sche,  Noordsche  en  Westersche  schipvaert  enz  .  .  .  Door  W.  Jz.  B. 
Niewelijcx  .  .  .  verbetert  en  vermeerdert.  Amst.  Joan  Blaeu  .  .  . 
1655,  1658. 

Atlas  major  sive  Cosmographia  Blaviana,  qua  solum,  salum,  coelum 
accuratissime  describuntur.     Amst.,  Joa.  Blaeu,  1662.     11  vols. 
A  second  edition  of  the  first  part  in  1665. 

Grooten  Atlas  oft  Werelt-beschryving,  in  welcke  't  aertryck,  de  zee  en 
hemel  wordt  vertoont  en  beschreven.  Amst.,  J.  B.,  1664—1665.  9 
vols. 

Le  grand  Atlas  ou  Cosmographie  Blaviane.  12  vols.  Issued  also  in 
the  Latin,  the  Dutch  and  the  Spanish  language. 

Globes  dated: 

Terrestrial,  1599  Celestial,  1606 

Terrestrial,  1602  Celestial,  I6l6 

Celestial,  1602  Terrestrial,  1616 

Celestial,  1603  Terrestrial,  1622 

Terrestrial,  1606  Celestial,  1622 

Globes  undated  are  numerous.  Blaeu's  name  appears  on  his  globes  as 
Guilielmus  Jansonius  Alcmariensis,  Guilielmus  Jansonius  Blaeu, 
Guilielmus  Jansonius  Alcmarianus,  Guiljelmus  Blaeuw,  Guiljelmus 
Caesius. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  in  the  foregoing  list  to  include  a  reference 
to  all  known  editions. 


67 


